


Twilight's New Girlfriend

by Dontjudgemyfanfichistory



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Fluff, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), More people to be added as they actually do stuff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, This started as crack then i got invested in a fake relationship, Twilight is a himbo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:02:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26844088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dontjudgemyfanfichistory/pseuds/Dontjudgemyfanfichistory
Summary: Twilight gets a girlfriend.Everyone has a problem with this.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Four & Twilight (Linked Universe), Four & Wild (Linked Universe), Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Comments: 92
Kudos: 148





	1. What is going on?

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are folks! Lucy is back at it again with her BS. At least I hope you all like what I do.

So it all happened like this. 

The portal had thrown them all everywhere. Like ragdolls they had all tumbled out and gotten separated from each other. Some were luckier than others, they had been stuck with partners or groups, others less so. 

Wild, with the use of an item and a clever trick with canyon echo’s had been able to shout the location of their meetup so mostly everyone could hear it. Thankfully they were all in the same region and not spread across the entire map of this Hyrule. 

The set meeting place had been a stable in the northern Akkala region. Warriors and Wind, having been the closest by far arrived there early afternoon of the fourth day. Using Wind’s ‘magic stone thingy’ as Warriors called it, they contacted Wild letting him know they had arrived. Wild in turn let them know he had found Four and Sky. 

The next morning Wild, Four, Sky, with Time in toe, arrived at the stable. 

“Time found us on our way here.” Wild explained “He hasn’t seen anyone else though. Twilight, Legend and Hyrule are still unaccounted for.”

“Unaccounted for but hopefully together.” Four added.

They decided to wait around the stables for another day unless more showed up. Thankfully Legend and Hyrule arrived just at the dawn of the next day. 

“Was Twilight with you?” Wild asked as soon as thankful hellos were exchanged. 

No, they both answered. Neither of them had seen Twilight at all.

“One more day Wild, then we can go look for him.” Time assured him. “Knowing him he’ll be fine.” He said with a wink- or a blink- whatever.

\---

Much to their relief, Twilight eventually showed his face that afternoon. Everyone was preparing their gear to leave the next morning, enduring the heckling that came from the stable owner for taking up most of his beds for a few nights.

Wind had been the first to spot him climbing up the hill. 

“Twilight!” He yelled, he dashed to him bringing the attention of everyone else that was around to hear him yell. 

Twilight caught Wind in his arms. “Agh! Slow down Wind I almost fell over.”

“We were so worried!” Wind continued to yell despite still being in his arms. Twilight slowly let him down as the others approached at varying speeds. 

“Hey Wild, everyone.” He greeted with an uncharacteristic shyness. His hand going to the back of his neck 

“Dude, seriously what took you so long?” Wild questioned. “How far off were you?”

“Death mountain? I think?“

“Death mountain! And it only took you what, three days? Four?”

“Well- I mean- Look guys.” Twilight tried to find words to say. “I ran into someone.”

Wild’s eyes widened. “Someone we know? Was he a bird with an accordion?”

“Oh uh, no. Not at all. Anyway she’s waiting for me in Tarrey town, unless she actually changed her mind to come with me here, we stopped on the way here and-”

Time raised an eyebrow. “She?” 

“It’s not like that!” Twilight denied quickly. "Not what you're thinking." His face was flushed. 

"Alright." Time said, fighting a smile creeping up his face. "What happened?"

"Yeah, What happened." Wind echoed. "Who's this  _ girl _ ?"

"Well, I was on my way here, and I heard a scream so I investigated it as per the norm." He started, the flush in his face fading as he explained. "I saw a girl around my age getting attacked by bokoblins so I helped her out. She was going to Tarrey Town and since this stable isn't much farther I offered to go with her."

"A random lady?" Wild mused. "Suspicious."

"It's really not."

“Alright, continue.” Wild still kept a hand to his chin in mock thought. 

“Well that’s about it. We uh, well we got to Tarrey town and I asked if she wanted to come with me to meet you guys. She said she didn’t want to so here I am.”

Warriors chuckled a bit. “Twilight’s blushing.” He pointed out.

“I am not!” He indeed was.

Warriors held his hands up in a defensive position. “Hey man I’m saying nothing, just pointing out the obvious. Now are we going to town so you can give your lady friend a proper goodbye?”

“Knock it off Warriors.” Legend warned. 

Twilight stuttered. “What? No. I mean we can go to town sure but her business is her own and-”

“Is that her?” Sky asked.

They all stood around in relative silence waiting for her to make the trip up there. 

"Time, guys, please don't freak out but-" Twilight started, but she caught up to them before he was able to finish his sentence. She slipped her hand into his free one with relative ease, glancing at the rest of them with a shy smile on her face.

"Hi." 

Warriors mouth dropped. "Twilight you did not."

Twilight pinched his eyes shut, his entire face was a shade of light pink. "I did."

"What's going on?" Wind asked.

"Everyone, This is Clarese." He said, gripping her hand and giving her a short wave. 

"Hi." She greeted again, bobbing her head to the group. 

"Clarese this is my family. Uh, Clarese and I are- well we're,"

"Together?" Legend offered. 

"Yes."

"Is this a bad time?" Clarese asked. "I can go back if you'd like." She had a round face, dimples, short black hair and an average body, her smile was pretty and she looked good in her dark red travelers clothes. No wonder Twilight was so smitten. 

Everyone stayed silent. Yes? No? Kinda? All of the answers applied.

"No. We were all on our way to Tarrey Town to begin with." Time broke the silence. "You're welcome to come with us."

"That's so kind of you, thank-" She stopped short as her eyes rested on Wild. " _ You _ ." She whispered, her tone changing drastically. Her eyes narrowed, before she suddenly switched to looking at the rest of them. All signs of hostility gone. "Thank you." 

Wild too was looking as if death had snuck up behind him and licked him in the ear. Maybe she was an Ex of his? 

"Well what are we waiting for! Let's go!" Wind pushed. He jumped up and jovially started skipping away from the stable, his pack jingling as he made his way downhill. 

"Yeah. Sounds good." Twilight agreed. Pulling Clarese by the hand he and the others began to make their way to Tarrey Town.

—-

“No, No way. I refuse to believe this.” Warriors proclaimed as soon as Twilight had moved far enough away. “There is no way Twilight got a girlfriend in the four days he was gone.”

Warriors was currently trudging alongside Legend who starred onward.

“What, are you jealous he’s got more game then you?” Legend smirked.

“Yes!” Warriors lamented. “There is no way  _ Farmboy _ over here has better game than me?"

"You're thinking about this too much."

Warriors scowled. "Am I? Am I really?"

"Yes."

He threw up his hands. "Well at least there's hope for me yet!"

"Keep it down."

"Sorry."

—-

In the very front, Time and Twilight led the group onward. Clarese trailed behind them, far enough away that they could carry their own conversation out in whispers. 

“She’s an adventurer kinda like us.” Twilight explained. “She has weapons, knows how to fight as well.”

Time raised an eyebrow. "Oh? She's not dangerous is she?"

Twilight shook his head. "No."

“If you’re suggesting we take her with on our adventures.”

“No! No of course not.” Twilight shook his head. “I just- wanted you to know that she’s capable.”

“Indeed.” Time nodded. “Does she know about us and our portal traveling ways?”

“No. And unless we all agree I’m not telling her anything.”

"I see. Would you trust her to know?"

Twilight paused before answering. "I don't know."

“You’d like to though wouldn’t you?” Time prompted. 

“I don’t, I don’t know Time.” Twilight sighed. “I just- It’s been a long time since anyone has, well y’know, liked me.”

Time smiled, “You have a good head on your shoulders pup. I trust you to use it.”

“Heh, thanks.”

"You can go walk with her if you'd like."

Twilight's turn to smile. "Yeah ok."

\---

"Sooo," Twilight spoke, linked his hand with Clarese's as they walked side by side. "I hope none of them scared you did they?"

She shook her head. "They seem fine. The one with the scarf looks like he's going to cry though."

"Yeah he does that a lot. It's normal for him to be so dramatic."

"I see." She glanced behind her to where Wild almost silently brought up the back of the group. "Who is the one in blue?"

"Wild?" Twilight glanced at him too. "Oh! No, he's not the guy that you're looking for. Trust me."

"He's not? You said your family consisted of heroes right?" 

"Yeah. But the guy that's taking out your clan and Wild are completely different people."

Clarese sighed, giving Twilight's hand a squeeze. "Alright. I trust you." She still didn’t stop glancing at Wild however.

They walked in silence for a bit longer. 

"Are we going to tell your father that we already have a room at the inn together or-"

"No. We absolutely do not let anyone know that."

"Alright."

\---

Wild had to get Twilight alone as soon as humanly possible. This was not good. This was very very bad. Everything was bad. How would Wild even begin to tell Twilight how utterly awful the current situation was. 

_ How do you tell someone that they're dating a Yiga footsoldier? _

Quick answer! You should never half to!

He was at the very back. You couldn't pay him to get closer. Right there,  _ right there, _

Twilight was holding hands and laughing with the  _ enemy _ .

She wasn't even hiding it! She was literally wearing red and black. Those signature blades at her hip were a dead giveaway. 

Here she was, flirting with Twilight and probably giving him kisses on the cheek when no one was watching. He had to go up to them and put a stop to this. His life was in danger!

But- Wild watched as Twilight blushed, nodded along to whatever she was saying that was making him smile like that. He had clearly fallen hard for her. 

When was the last time Twilight had found some special? Indecision clawed through his stomach. 

Tell Twilight and ruin his happiness? Having him forever remember the time he put Wild in danger when he fell in love? That would put Wild in danger but.

But what if he didn't tell him? And just watched to see what happened? Wild was strong wasn't he? He had fended off plenty of attacks against his life before. What's the worst she could do? Try to stab him? He had tons and tons of fairies in his slate, he could definitely survive a few assassination attempts.

But this still couldn't stand. They had to be broken up. 

Wild continued to walk, his mind spinning and spinning with ideas and plots. 

He could totally do this.

\---

As expected they got to the town just as the sun dipped below the mountains. They had never been to Tarrey Town before, only ever visiting other places in Wild's Hyrule. It was nice to see the town that Wild so proudly boasted about whenever they discussed their achievements. 

Twilight and Clarese quietly made their way to the inn and turned in for the night. Everyone else followed suit, cramming themselves in as little rooms as possible as to not inconvenience the innkeeper. 

Wild however, after agreeing to share a room with Four, climbed the roof, searching for a window to peek through. 

He found one, peering through it he saw Twilight and Clarese fast asleep in the same bed.  _ Disgusting _ .

What could he do here? Sabotage? Any second now she could wake up and strangle Twilight in his sleep. Or maybe sneak out of the room and go after someone else. She must be an evil genius to think of infiltrating the enemy like this. 

How cruel of her to use Twilight like this he thought. What a coldhearted woman.

Throughout the night, nothing happened. 

Wild clung to the outside window as the moon rose. As it neared midnight he entertained the idea of heading inside. He was tired, if she didn't act now then she would probably never. But anxiety forced him to stay there and stay still until the sun peeked over the hills. 

As soon as he saw movement he was wide awake. Clarese had woken up and was sleepily rubbing her eyes. A front no doubt. 

She turned slightly and shook Twilight. Wild almost jumped through the window to grab her. Was she trying to strangle him? Beat him to death- No wait Twilight was waking up nevermind. She was trying to wake him up, makes sense. 

Wild watched as Twilight woke up and- Ew ew ew ew no nope nevermind. Wild dropped himself off the side of the building. The literal last thing he ever wanted to see was Twilight kissing someone uhuh no sir. Wild needed to wash his eyes  _ now _ .

Gagging, Wild dragged himself inside. He hadn't gotten a lick of sleep except for when he dozed slightly before waking himself back up. He found the room he was supposed to share with Four. Mercifully his roommate was still asleep. Wild collapsed in the bed next to him, trying to plan his next, if there could even be one. 

At the moment she had done nothing wrong. What if she was actually reformed? Like that one guy from Kakariko? But no that would make her a traitor wouldn't it? They killed them on sight when possible. 

What if she was actually good? And she was an undercover Sheikah trying to infiltrate- Wild fell asleep.

\---

Twilight rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. "You keep glaring at the window." He mumbled. "Are you alright."

Clarese sighed, shaking her head. "I'm fine. It kinda felt like someone was watching us."

"Watching us?" Twilight padded over to the window, forcing it open. "Nothing's here 'cept a nice view of the lake." 

"It was just a feeling. I'm sure we're fine."

Twilight nodded. His brain was still muddled, he'd be fully awake by the time everyone else got up. 

They had all met up, now what? Were they going to walk around until another portal found them or they fixed a great burden upon the land of Hyrule? Until they found Dark Link? What next? 

Why did they even have to do this anyway? It's not like they got any closer then they did a few weeks ago. Or even a month ago? Why couldn't they just stay put. 

Because they had a duty to Hylia. Twilight frowned. Is this how Time or Legend felt when they thought they was done with their adventures only to be called out one more time?

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Clarese gave him a weak smile. "You're frowning, what are you thinking about?"

"We'll probably have to travel again now that we're all together." He relayed all his thoughts to her about having to go out again. He hadn't told her what they were even doing, just that they had a giant quest to complete and someone to find. 

"I could help you, you know." She offered. "I have connections with people everywhere. I could help you find this person."

Twilight sighed. "It's not that simple." How did he explain this without spilling the beans? "I appreciate it though. I'll ask Time."

She wrinkled her nose. "You call each other by such weird names."

"Yeah, it comes with the job." 

There was a knock at the door. 

"Wake up you guys." It was Hyrule's voice. "Time says we have some planning to do."

Twilight shrugged. "Guess that's our que.”

"I guess it is."


	2. How did we get here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did Twilight meet a Yiga soldier and fall in love within four days?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had way to much fun writing this. Be warned. 
> 
> This entire chapter is 4.7k which I think makes it the 2nd longest chapter I've ever posted. Mask chapter 10 being the longest at 7.2k

A portal had launched them to Wild’s Hyrule. There was a small problem however. It had put Twilight who knows where and far far away from anyone else.

“-Kalla! Go north! Akkala stable!” Wild shouted from . . . Somewhere. He must have been using one of Legend’s Items for Twilight to hear him so well. He couldn’t even see where the noise was coming from. 

While their last trip to this place had been based mainly around the desert, Twilight did remember a little bit of the map. If he ran into anyone he would ask them for directions. 

The night was still young, the sun barely beginning it’s descent. Twilight started to climb down the mountain, with the heat radiating off of it he could assume that this was death mountain, a lovely little volcano that could bury half of Hyrule if it tried. 

He took his furs off, stuffing them into his pack for later use. The warm breeze on his arms and neck felt so much better.

With renewed vigor he made it down the volcano before the sun went down. Bright lights were right ahead of him, a mile or so. It might be the rest of the party if he was lucky. 

Now all but jogging through the stony pasture, he made quick work of the trip. A stable awaited him. People stood outside, chatting and laughing but Twilight saw no hint of bright blond hair or armor. 

He nodded to the Innkeeper. “Very late for a young man like you to be out.” He commented. 

“I’m lost.” Twilight explained. “Have you seen a group of guys, most of them blond and tall, walk through here? Where is this place?” 

He shook his head. “You’re in Eldin.” Twilight frowned. “Are you staying for the night son? It’s dangerous to go out late.”

“I don’t know. I shouldn’t be too far from where I need to be.”

“Well where are you headed?”

“The north Akkala stable”

The man gawked. “You have your work cut out for you then. There’s no chance you’ll get there before night. Hell-” He glanced at the sky. “I’d say we have two hours till sundown.”

“How far is it from here? Can you give me directions?” Twilight questioned.

“Directions? You can’t be serious.”

“Please.”

He sighed. “Alright. You go south, reach a crossroads and go left. You’ll hit another crossroads. Go left for the south Akkala stable, go right for Tarrey town. Both paths will get together in the highlands but I recommend you go the route of Tarrey town. It’s much safer.”

“How long?”

“A four days and a half days if you bring a horse. Longer on foot.”

“I can get horses here right?” Twilight started to pull out his bag of rupees. “How much to rent one?”

“I’m not making you pay. I can give you a tame mare for free, just make sure you get her back when you reach your destination.”

Soon Twilight was riding out on a spotted horse. The owner was kind, he even tried to get some food into him. 

The night crept up on him as soon as the man had said it would. Twilight sharpened his eyes and ears, ready to defend himself if any stalkoblins thought he was easy pickings. 

He reached the first crossroads just as the sun went down. If he had a lantern he would light it, but seeing as he didn’t he would have to rely on the horses senses and his own. If anything more corrupted lizalfos got him he really would be easy pickings.

How were the others doing? Had Wild used the sheikah slate to teleport everyone? Could he even do that? Twilight only knew that it was technology far beyond the spell that made their bags bigger on the inside. 

The second crossroad came to view. The trees were thin enough to let the moon provide light for him to see the ground. It had been a few hours since sundown. He looked left. A day's journey? With no stop but a stable? Or Tarrey town. He knew the people that lived there were very kind folk, Wild loved to talk about their efforts in building the place.

Twilight jumped as he heard a shriek. The horse bucked underneath him. Where had it come from? He led the horse quickly forward to the sound. The scream had come from somewhere in the near pasture, listening closely he could hear the screeches of bokoblins as well. 

He spurred the horse forward. “Hello!” He called out.

He found them. A Girl surrounded by five bokoblins. There was a deep gash on her arm, otherwise she was standing. Twilight had gotten there just in time to prevent a worse injury.

He dismounted, quickly cutting one of them down. It caught the attention of the others. A particularly ugly gray one and two skeletal remains rushed him. 

Breaking up the skeletal ones was easy. Grabbing the arm of one, he smashed it into the head of the gray one. It let out a cry trying to crab the bony arm from him. In reply Twilight stuck his sword into its side. 

The last bokoblin had run off. Leaving Twilight holding a stal-arm and the remaining teeth and horns of the four dead ones. _Need a hand?_ He thought dryly.

The girl stood up, she swayed slightly. “Thank you- So- Much-” She huffed. Her cheeks were red with exhaustion, hair out of place. 

“It was no trouble.” Twilight assured her. “I’m glad I got to you in time.” He took the time to study her. She had short black hair and grey eyes. She covered herself in weather appropriate clothing. Dark red linen and leather boots. 

She apparently was getting a good look at him as well. She kept her eyes on the markings on his forehead. Glancing to look at the sword in his hands as well. She seemed to still. 

“Who are you?” She all but demanded. “A hero?” She stumbled towards him.

“Not really.” Twilight replied. “I mean if you want to call me that?”

Suddenly she pulled out two curved blades. One pointed at him, resting under his chin, as the other sat tucked against her side. “No, are you _the_ hero?”

“What?” Twilight panicked. “No!” 

“Don’t lie to me!” Her arm trembled along with the rest of her. Her face was still pale, she was as scared as him if not more. 

Twilight didn’t move. “I don’t know who you are, but I have no Idea what you’re talking about.”

She frowned, after a moment she let her blade down, wincing slightly she moved her hand to her forearm. Blood leaked from her fingers. 

“You’re hurt.” He stated. “Here, I can help.”

“I just tried to kill you, I don’t need your pity.” She spat.

Twilight shook his head. “You were mistaken. I’m fine. Let me help you.”

She sagged, the fight leaving her. “Alright. But if you hurt me I’m killing you.”

“Fine by me.”

  
  
  


Her name was Clarese.

—-

Clarese had let Twilight bandage her arm, refusing the red position he offered her. They were both highly suspicious of each other, with good reason of course. She rolled her arm around a few times. “It feels better already.” She noted. “Do you do this often?”

“Only when I have to.” 

Twilight had decided to start a fire, one to rest or sleep by if needed. He had no food to roast or anything to burn, but a fire meant safely from monsters. The both sat together, the horse tied to a nearby tree.

“Are you a traveler then?” She asked. “You were headed somewhere right?”

“I’m more of an adventurer.” He replied. “And yes, North Akkala stable.”

“North Akkala? That’s far from here.”

“Fairly. What about you? Going anywhere?”

She shrugged, wincing as she did so. “Not really. I think I’m headed towards Tarrey town but I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure?”

“I’m looking for someone. I don’t know where he is.”

Twilight nodded. “Sounds like where I am at the moment. I’m looking for my traveling party, my family. We said we’d meet up at the stable, I was hoping to make it to south Akkala before midnight but-” He gestured to the trees around him.

“But I ran into a bokoblin camp?” She offered.

“Yeah.” He laughed. “You ran into a bokoblin camp.”

Clarese laughed with him. “Sorry about that by the way.”

“No, no you’re good.” He stretched his arms in front of him. “Ah, it was good to use a sword like that after so long.”

Maybe it was the fire but he might have seen her flush as he laid down.

—-

“Well, if it’s the middle of the night I might try to sleep. Please don’t cut my throat while I’m sleeping.” He pulled his furs out of his bag, forming them into a lumpy pillow.

“Alright. Would you like me to watch over you?” She asked.

“I’m not sure, are we travelling together now?” He grinned. 

She glanced away from him, keeping them fixed on a rock. “We’re going to the same place aren’t we?”

“Sounds good.” He yawned. “Wake me up when you’d like to sleep.”

“Alright.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Twilight.”

He smiled. She might have just tried to kill him. But she was nice.

\---

Clarese eventually woke him up after several hours. The sun was high enough in the sky that Twilight might as well start to put out the fire and pack up. Not that he had much to pack up anyway. 

Clarese was asleep, he should at least try to stay quiet. He checked his equipment, nothing had been tampered with, a good sign always. 

They were both fairly far from anywhere weren't they? The other stable was close, but she needed to get to Town and he would feel pretty bad if he just let her wander around by herself. She had blades and knew how to use them, but her arm was still damaged so it would be rude to ask her to go alone. 

He scaled a tree and looked out at the land. It didn't really help seeing as they were on the low end of a hill. But it was something to do anyway. The sun was rising, Twilight was content watching it. It was always nice to hear the bird and other animals start to wake up. It brought a calm familiarity to him. He almost missed farm life. 

Just as the horse began to wake up, Twilight figured it was time to start their journey once again. They would be able to see the lights of Tarrey town just after the next few hills right? It wouldn't take more than a day or two or three at best.

He climbed down the tree, dropping the last few feet. That apparently was enough to startle Clarese awake.

She sat abruptly, her hand's going to her the blades on her hips. She stopped as soon as she saw who it was. 

"You scared me." She sighed. 

Twilight smiled awkwardly. He hadn't meant to. "Sorry." He offered. "It's morning. I was thinking we could get to Town in a few days or less if we hurried."

"That sounds okay." She got herself up, walking over to kick her small bag open, fishing out a few dried fruit chips. "Would you like one?" She offered. 

"Sure." Clarese dropped some into his hand. "What kind of fruit is this?"

"Apples, some bananas, a few pears I think. I got this a week or so ago because they last for a while in bags."

Twilight popped one in his mouth. He'd never really had dried fruit before, but they were most certainly fun to chew. 

"What are you going to do with the horse?" Clarese asked after she finished off her food. "I can walk as you ride her."

Twilight shook his head. "No, you're injured. I can walk."

"Oh." There was a hesitated silence. "I don't want to."

"Huh? Why wouldn't you? I'm fine with walking."

"No it's just-" She avoided his gaze, shifting from one foot to the other. She spoke it in an almost whisper, Twilight had to strain his ears to hear her. "I've never really ridden a horse before." 

Twilight didn't believe her at first. He chuckled at the supposed joke until he saw her face. "You're serious?"

Clarese nodded, red with shame. "I usually walk, or get rides."

"Well that's an easy fix." Twilight replied. He shuffled towards the horse, grabbing hold of the reins and bringing it closer to Clarese. "I can teach you. I grew up on a farm, I know a lot about horses."

"You really don't half to-"

"I'm going to teach you how to ride a horse."

"Oh uh, okay then."

\---

It took a few tries to get Clarese to actually get on the horse. They both realized that the horse didn't have a name so the only fitting name they could agree upon was Horse. They were both terribly creative. 

Soon enough Clarese was on, Twilight behind her helping her hold onto the reins. They were going than he would have liked but beginners always thought everything was going faster than it really was. He didn't want to scare her in any way. 

After the initial round of coaching, Twilight didn't have much to say to her. He tried to think of something to say to get rid of the silence. 

“So who’s this hero guy you thought I was?” He asked. "The one you're trying to stab."

His question stirred her from thought. Clarese bit her lip, thinking of what to say. 

"I'm a part of a group of people." She started. "A clan really."

"Like the Sheikah?" Twilight prompted. Personally he didn't know much about the group of white haired people that seemed to exist in everyone else's Hyrule except his own. Wild had mentioned they were prevalent here hadn't he?

"Kind of? We're an offset group. We're in the desert? I'm sure you've heard of us." She stopped, almost as if she was waiting for him to say something. 

Come to think of it Wild had said something about the Sheikah when they had visited the Gerudo desert. It was a long time and Twilight had trouble trying to remember what exactly he had said. "Yeah I have." He simply replied.

"Really? And you don't mind that I am-" She trailed off. 

Sheikah? Of course he didn't mind. "Not really. You seem like a good person."

Her eyes lit up. "Thank Ganon. I was scared you would hate me."

Little weird to thank Ganon but everyone had their own way of cursing didn't they? "So about this hero guys?"

"Oh yes, about him." She seemed a lot more open to talking about him now.

"There's this man, he goes around killing people from my clan. Specifically targeting us one by one. He calls himself a hero." She spat. "A year ago he found our home in the desert. He massacred almost everyone there, many of my cousins and relatives died. He even killed master Kohga" There was a dark glint in her eye. 

Yikes. A guy that bad was roaming freely around Wild's Hyrule? Twilight would definitely have to tell Wild about this. This would need to be taken care of. "You're trying to get revenge?"

"Yes." She turned her head to look at him. "You don't think that's wrong do you?"

"This guy sounds dangerous. Do you even know where he is?"

"No. It's why I'm headed to Town. Hopefully I'll be able to catch wind of him there."

"Good luck. Chasing him can't be that safe."

She smiled. "Don't worry. I made a promise to my mother."

\---

Most of the day was spent in silence with occasional talk. They cleared a few hills and crossed a bridge. Giant waterfalls splashed down cliffs around them, masking the sound of any noise. 

Horse needed a rest, there was clear water here, they made a stop. 

They were high up. Twilight was almost sure where they were. "Are we near Zora's domain?" 

Clarese shrugged. "I've never seen this place outside of maps. I have one if you'd like to look at it."

He took the map studying it. "It's on the other side of the mountain. We're pretty high up." He noted. 

"Does that mean we're close to town?" Clarese jogged farther beyond the trees to a pasture that overlooked more land. "There it is!"

Twilight followed, following her hand to where she pointed to a small cluster of houses. "Well would you look at that." He looked at the map. "That guy at the stable must have been dead wrong then. It doesn't look like it would take us more than a day to get here from there." He said to himself. 

"Is that bad?"

"Not at all. Call it an unexpected surprise." He looked up from the map. "Where's Horse?"

"Did you leave him at the stream?"

His eyes widened. Did he remember to tie her down?

"Wait right here." He dashed back to the stream. Horse was nowhere to be seen.

Mental screaming. A lot of it. 

Twilight cursed. She was right here. "Horse?" He called. "Horse!"

Clarese came jogging towards him. "What's going on?"

"I lost Horse."

"You- Ok we need to find him." Clarese wasted no time in running to the bridge they had just crossed. "You go the other way! Horse has a lot of my stuff on it!"

"Got it!"

\---

It took hours to find Horse. When they did they discovered that she had made her merry way back across the couple of bridges where some wild hay was growing. 

Twilight growled as soon as he and Clarese stumbled upon her. "Dammit. We've backtracked so much."

Clarese was busy grabbing her back off of Horse. "No horse! Bad horse!" She said, pointing a _very_ threatening finger towards it. "Don't run off with my things ever again you hear me?"

Twilight sagged. "You don't have to be so mean. She was just trying to eat. We must have forgotten to feed her." Probably his fault. 

Clarese pursed her lips. "Alright." She glared at Horse again. "But if Horse tries to prank us like this one more time I'm going on foot for the rest of my life."

"Fair enough. I'll just have to remember to tie down horses more. It was my fault."

She shook her head. "It's alright. There was no harm done. I should try and be a better horse person."

"Hah, Horse person."

"What? What else do you say?" She demanded defensively.

"Nothing." Twilight, still laughing slightly. _"Horse person."_

\---

They had spent a good amount of their time looking for Horse. Their options were to ride at a slow trot and reach where they had just been and camp there for the night, or Twilight could take the reins and make it a bit farther. 

Clarese agreed that they had wasted enough time looking for Horse. Fast it was. 

She gripped his waist tightly as they rode. It was hardly fast by Twilight's standards. But he'd jousted a bulblin king on a bridge before so not much was really scary to him anymore. At least on a horse.

Once night fell, they camped. The lights of Tarrey Town were obscured by more trees when they camped down. A fire was started and they agreed to sleep at the same time, trusting that they were close enough to Town that bokoblinns would stay away. It comforted Twilight to know that their destination was less than a day's journey away. How long would a trip between there and the North Stable be? Hopefully not long. But would Clarese want to come with him?

She could hold her own well enough he was sure. Maybe getting this Hero guy was why they were thrown here in the first place. He tried to imagine her in their adventuring party. Four would like her, they had a similar attitude didn't they? Wind liked everyone so that would work out. Warriors would probably try and flirt with her. 

For some reason the thought of that didn't quite sit with him. He wrinkled his face. No he didn't think he would like that at all.

\---

Twilight woke up before Clarese. There was little sun, the sky was shrouded in clouds, it would most likely rain soon. Twilight guessed it was roughly six or seven in the morning. Looking at his sleeping traveling companion he wondered if he should wake her up right now or wait until she stirred on her own. She looked peaceful when she slept. 

He grinned. Clarese struck him as kinda pretty like this. Her hair all tousled and all. 

Twilight's face fell. _Oh no_.

Nope. Not right now. Later in the day he would think about this. He neatly bottled his thoughts and shoved them into a corner of his mind. 

Thoughtlessly he shook her shoulder. "Hey." He greeted her as she slowly opened her eyes. 

"Good morn-" She interrupted herself with a yawn she covered with her hand. "Sorry."

"It's going to rain soon. We need to get a move on."

"Alright."

Back to Horse. Back to a fast canter and watching the scenery go by. Back to soft conversation with the added bonus of Twilight trying desperately to put out of mind Clarese's strong grip on his arms. 

Horse would tire once and awhile, they would slow down and just let her rest while they just talked. Clarese was interested to know about his life as a _Horse Person_ which Twilight had corrected her telling her the proper term was 'Ranch Hand.' Apparently she had never been to a proper farm before. "There are cows right? And dogs?"

"Cows, dogs, cuckoos, horses. Whatever the farm is for." 

"Do you have a dog?"

"Not yet. I want one though." Twilight had entertained the idea of getting a giant sheepdog to play around with. One that wouldn't be too scared of his wolf form. 

"But you travel right?"

"But I travel, yeah." Twilight agreed. "Maybe someday."

"Dogs sound nice. Maybe I'll try and bring one back for my Mom." Clarese thought out loud. 

In turn he asked about the desert. She had grown up near the Gerudo Highlands. She told him about the giant mountains covered in sand and then snow but more sand. It was either blistering hot or freezing cold. She told him of the giant sandstone walls she would carve pictures into. 

"I was never good at it, but my older cousin Suzuna took me with her whenever she went. She made the most beautiful pictures. Always of us playing together. I would do my best to copy her."

"I'm sure you're great." He assured her. 

"Thank you." She smiled. "If we ever go there together I'll be sure to show you."

_If we ever go there together._ That had a nice sound to it. Nope, that was for the later box. The later box would not be breached right now.

A corner turn was made around the last hill. 

"Town!" Clarese excitedly pointed out the obvious. He could hear the glee in her voice. 

It was darker now. The rain had slightly bothered them earlier but the sky was now clearer than it had been in a while, the bright stars shown despite the sun being visible at the very top of the valley. 

"Can I dismount?" She asked him, the smile still present in her voice. "I want to run in."

"Run?"

"Yes! There's about two hundred feet left right? I'm sure you've wanted to gallop on Horse at least once right? I want to run, stretch my legs."

"Sure I guess." He slowed Horse to a stop. "Hop off. I'll race ya."

Clarses rolled her eyes. "There is no way I'll be able to beat you on a horse." She remarked sliding off the saddle.

"Oh I don't know. You keep on surprising me." Twilight said before thinking. He could feel the blood running to his face. "See you there." He blurted out. He spurred Horse to go as fast as she could.

He beat her there, by a longshot. It did not surprise him, with how fast he was riding he could probably outrun Wild's teleportation. 

He watched as Clarese caught up to him. He hadn't rode into town, he could do so after she got there. She was fast, it didn't take long. 

"You're a fast runner."

"I have a lot of stamina." She replied while stretching her arms. "Goodness if felt great to do that. No offence but riding a horse is tiring."

"Aw, I thought you liked talking to me." 

"I think that's why I put up with it." 

"Oh shit uh." He diverted his attention to another matter. "But hey we're at town right? Let's find an Inn."

Neither of them had been here before. Twilight quite liked the homey feel to it. They were both greeted by a passerby as they entered. He pointed them to the way of the Inn. 

Tarrey Town was smaller than he imagined it. But it was nice. There was a statue of Hylia in the center surrounded by a small pond and a doc. Twilight gave it a short nod. 

"Who is that?" Clarese asked. She nudged his arm and pointed to the statue.

"That's a statue of Hylia."

"Who?"

Twilight widened his eyes. "You don't know who Hylia is?"

"Is she a saint?" Clarese guessed. 

"She's the goddess that guards the triforce." Twilight said dumbly.

"Oh I've heard of that one!" She exclaimed. "Sorry. The desert isn't really focused on religion I guess."

"Huh." Chock that up to another question he would ask Wild later.

“Now come on, let’s get to the Inn.” She grabbed his hand and led him, and by proxy Horse, to the Inn pointed out by the local. 

She held his hand as she led him to the Inn. She held his hand as bought and paid for a room. She held his hand as they were directed to the stable behind where they could place Horse for a rest. He had to let her hand go to tie up Horse, immediately missing the feeling. 

She was _holding_ his _hand._

What was he? Twelve? People held hands all the time; it wasn’t a big deal. 

“Would you look at that? It’s a drop from here.” Clarese pointed out. She was leaning on the fencing behind the building. “Straight to the lake from here.”

“Yeah.” He responded absentmindedly. “It might be worth trying to fish in there later. Just to get some more food on us. If we want to keep going.”

“You mean, if you want to keep going.”

“What?” Clarese looked slightly crestfallen. “”Oh right, you’re staying here aren’t you? To look for that guy.”

“That was the plan. But to be honest I kinda got it in my head that you would be with me. We would stick together.”

Fastening Horse to a post had never seemed more fascinating than now. “Did you now?” He was acutely aware of how fast his heart was beating. 

With his gaze stuck firmly ahead of him, he didn’t notice Clarese draw near him until she touched his arm. 

“Hey.” 

Twilight relaxed his arm, he didn’t realize how tense it was before. “Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”

His mouth moved before his brain did. “Please.”

Her lips were chapped but so were his. 

They kissed softly, Clarese’s other hand coming up to cup his face. After a moment she pulled away flashing him a nervous grin. “Sorry, we probably shouldn’t have done that in front of the horse.”

“I-” It was as if all the nervousness and shakiness had left Twilight’s body. “I could kiss you again inside if you’d like.”

“I’d like that.” 

\---

The later box in his mind was practically dumped out on the floor at the moment. Twilight was actually okay with that. Because when you have a pretty girl’s arms wrapped around you, and you're both laying in a bed trying to fall asleep to the sound of each other's heartbeats, you don’t really care for much else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're thinking to yourself "Huh that was fast, they barely even knew each other." 1) You're right. 2) I would like you to look back on everyone's first relationship in high school where it goes to 'Total strangers' to 'They're the one i'm gonna marry' in like a week. 
> 
> \---
> 
> Clarese in her mind: Ok so he know's I'm a member of the Yiga clan and he's okay with it! Score!  
> Twilight in his mind: Boy I sure do love my desert Sheikah girlfriend
> 
> \---
> 
> When I live wrote this, Jay and Four is the Best on the discord server kept yelling at Twilight for being a dummy, so I wrote this really quick for them. I might as well throw it here. (sorry mobile users get ready for a trainwreck.) This takes place when Horse is lost. 
> 
> as Twilight ran the other way suddenly a portal opened up and Jay and Four is the Best from the LU discord server popped through and both simultaneously slapped him. "She's Yiga!" They yelled in unison.
> 
> "W-what?" Twilight stuttered. What was going on? Another portal? Both of his cheeks stung harshly. 
> 
> "The Yiga want to kill Wild! You know, your brother??" Four is the Best yelled.
> 
> "Yeah! Clarese want's to kill wild!"
> 
> "How do you - what?" They were gone as quick as they came. "What the hell?" he asked the air infront of him.
> 
> "I found Horse!" There was Clarese leading horse by the reigns. "Are you okay?" She asked as soon she saw his troubled face.
> 
> "Omae mou, shinderu." Twilight said as he drew his sword.
> 
> "N-Nani?"


	3. Where is this going?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We jump back to the present day! Where everyone is together and figuring out where to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of dialogue in this chapter. But I like it nonetheless.

As soon as Four and Wild had been woken up, the awake Four and barely alive Wild were shuffled into the room Time and Warriors shared. It would be their 'planning room.'

Wild now surviving on half an hour of sleep, regretted pulling an all nigher to watch someone sleep. His head was pounding and he had barely drifted off when Wind was shaking him. 

He was still carrying a blanket wrapped around his shoulders when he trudged into the room. It was as small as his and Four's. A small table and two beds. A window overlooked the town. 

"Whas'up." He mumbled, plopping down on the bed next to Warriors. 

Warriors shot him an incredulous look. "Did you sleep at all last night Wild?"

"Mm barely. Think I'm just unwinding." 

"Well we're waiting for the old man to get back with Legend, and Sky. Hyrule is getting Twilight and _her_ , you three get the pleasure of staying here with me." 

Four nodded. "Alright. Do we know what we're talking about?"

"What are the reasons for being here most likely." Wind interjected. "C'mon. Every time we drop somewhere we have to complete something. Like helping someone clear a hoard of monsters, or getting back a lost relic."

"That would make the most sense. Do we know if it has anything to do with Twilight and uh, was her name Claire?"

At the almost mention of her, a low groan could be heard emanating from Wild's semi-conscious form. 

Warriors chuckled. "Looks like someone is jealous."

"I'm not jealous." Wild defended. "I just-" He groaned more into the blanket. 

Warriors shrugged. "Sounds like it to me champ."

\---

Hyrule followed by Clarese and Twilight were the next ones to enter the room. "Where's Time?" Twilight asked upon seeing everyone. 

"Sky, Legend, and I had to find a different Inn. This one didn't have enough room." Hyrule explained. "I'm here because I woke up pretty early and couldn't fall asleep."

"Strange freak of nature you are." Four said. "Waking up early is a sign that you really are the chosen one."

"Hah, well I guess that's what happens when you live by the road for to long. I rise with the sun."

"What I would give for that." Clarese added. "Sometimes I wonder if I was meant to be a bat or an owl." She and Twilight had taken residency on Time's bed. Sitting fairly far apart than anyone else. 

Twilight shrugged. "I have to agree with Hyrule. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy and wealthy and-"

"A total killjoy when it comes to having fun." Warriors interrupted. "Not you Hyrule, you're cool. I'm talking about Mr. Straight face over here."

Twilight scoffed. "I am plenty of fun. Just not irresponsible."

"Boo! Boring!" Wind cried. "Screw rules I want to break things and eat rupees."

Clarese turned to Twilight and in a hushed whisper asked. "How old is he?" Four could still hear her on account of her not speaking too quietly in the first place. 

"I'm _13_ ma'am." Wind answered in a voice louder than necessary. "And I bet that you'd agree with me when I say breaking rules are fun."

"I uh, I don't think I've ever done that actually." She answered. "Breaking rules."

"Really?" Wind gawked. "How do you manage to have fun then? Haven't you ever snuck out past when your mom said to go to bed? Or gone on the road that no one said to go on because it was dangerous? Or stolen something?" 

Four slapped Wind on the back. "We don't bring up the stealing part."

"Oh yeah right sorry." Wind went back to talking with Clarese. 

"I never was given time to be in bed. I just had to wake up early." Clarese explained. "Sneaking out was never a big deal since it was encouraged almost."

"What?" Wind's flabbergasted expression was spread widely across his face. "Where do you live? Can I live with you?" 

Four took note of the way Wild's blanketed form shifted when Wind mentioned that. He really wasn't fond of her was she?

"I live in the desert. The highlands where it snows and night then boils the water in the morning."

"The Gerudo highlands?" Warriors repeated. "Have you been to Gerudo Town?"

"A few times. I was fairly young when my mother and cousins made the trip."

"Wild here has been to Gerudo town haven't you?" Warriors patted the blanket pile next to him. 

"Has he now?" Her expression changed when she noticed Wild. Was the feeling mutual.

"Shuttup Warriors." Wild warned. "I will attack you through my shell."

Four watched everyone's back and forth about Gerudo town to the desert to the change its atmosphere in Akkala being so different. 

When Time, Sky, and Legend finally showed their faces, Wind and Warriors were in a heated argument of whether the elevation of Akkala compared to the elevation of the Hebra mountains. 

"There are on opposite sides of the map! As well as being at completely different elevations! Plus there in an ocean literally right next to us _and_ an active volcano." Wind stressed. 

"Elevation this, elevation that, why is it so cold?" Warriors argued. 

"This sounds riveting." Time stole everyone's attention. "But I have a feeling it can be saved for later."

Wind sighed, a look of relief on his face. "Thank you Time."

\---

After some shuffling around, everyone had situated them in different spots in the room. Legend sitting in the window sill, Warriors, Wind, Wild, and Sky on one bed. Sky Twilight, Clarese and Hyrule on the other. Time stood and Four sat on the floor. 

"Now, Wild. Why are we here in Akkala?" Time started off. 

"Why Akkala exactly I don't know, portals are my explanation for that bit. But I made the call for the North Stable because it was the first safe place I could warp too." Wild was more awake now, the blankets having been shed and now making a comfortable seat for Four to sit on. 

"Do you know of anyone in this area that needs help? A monster problem that we wouldn't have heard of?"

"Not to my recollection."

"I see. Clarese." Time addressed. "Are there any strange things going on that you might know of. Monster gatherings, anything."

"No." She shook her head. "Everything has been going smoothly since Ganon was removed." If Any of them in the room were a little more observant they would have been able to notice how her voice grew slightly bitter and the mention of Ganon's defeat.

"Ok. Then we're back at square one. Wild, what is the closest place we could go too to get information?"

Wild but his lip, sparing glances at Clarese who watched impassively. "Other than Terry town, the next closest town structure around us would be the castle, the princess wouldn't be there however. Just the builders and others working on restoring Castletown."

"Where would the princess be then?"

Wild narrowed his eyes. He didn't want to say in front of the enemy but he also couldn't risk lying to Time or avoiding the question. "Kakariko, most likely."

"Kakariko?" Clarese raised her eyebrows. "The hidden sheikah village?"

"Precisely." Wild almost spat.

"And why would you know the location of the princess?" She questioned. She opened her mouth to ask more but was stopped as Twilight put his hand on hers. 

"I can answer that later. We need to talk about this first." 

Clarese didn't say anything else, only nodding and going back to watching Wild. Something that the chosen hero was extremely uncomfortable with even though it would be a while before he explained why.

"Kakariko? How long of a journey would that be?"

Wild pulled his slate out, looking at the map. "Depends, are we going on foot?"

"We don't seem to have horses at the moment so yes."

"I got a horse." Twilight interjected. "She's at the Inn's stable at the moment."

"That's one horse then. We could use it to carry our gear." Time thought. "Would that speed anything up?"

"It wouldn't speed up much, but it would make the trip easier if anything." Wild did the math in his head. "I'd say a week. More if we stop at a few other places."

"Where would we stop?"

"Not sure, but we might find what we're looking for on the way there. We could shave off a few days if we cut across the Lanyru Wetlands, but those are wet and not fun to walk through."

"Hm, we'll make that decision when we get there." Time paused. "Does anyone have any objections to leaving this afternoon?"

A chorus of 'no' and 'none' echoed throughout them. 

"We'll meet at the front of the Inn at three."

\---

"So what was with the talk of portals? Do you know magic?" Clarese questioned as soon as she and Twilight had gotten back to their room. "And what do you mean you travel to help people?"

Twilight thought of the best way to explain this without sounding like a complete nutjob. "Maybe three months ago." He started. "We were all kind of living together. All of us had different lives and all that. But we got together because family does that after a bit. But a few of us are the adventuring type. As I'm sure you guessed with the swords and all." He joked. "So you know wizzrobes?"

"The ones that bounce around and teleport?" 

"Yeah. Well it turns out if you get one of them mad enough they push you through portals. Ones that toss you around the map. That's where we are now. Getting pushed through a few portals now and then by an angry benevolent wizzrobe."

"That sounds. . . Are you alright? Too much teleportation can hurt you?"

"Oh we're all fine. But how do you know that?"

"A few people I know are able too, if you know enough magic. I can as well but only for a limited time, and not very far at all."

Impressive. Twilight thought. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"Oh hush. I'd never fight you."

"I don't know, I've been told I'm a real stickler for the rules."

"Yeah." Clarese grew somber for a moment. "Does that mean we have to split up? You and I?"

Would it? "I'd have to ask Time. He's the one that makes the final decisions. He'll probably let you tag along but I'm not sure what will happen when we're tossed around again."

"And you find yourself in the Hebra mountains unprepared? Or something like that I'm assuming."

"Yeah, something like that."

\---

When asked, Time had told Twilight that it was alright. After giving him a long winded speech on attachments and the power of the heart. One that Twilight only half listened to. Time had also given a prerequisite. He had to also ask Wild. 

"WIld? Why?"

"He seems put off by her. Even if it is a personal grudge of his or something, we come first."

Did Wild have something against Clarese? Twilight hadn't noticed him acting off around her. Clarese was weary of him because he looked like the dude that was killing her family, but that was so painfully not what Wild was so it could be brushed aside. 

Wild, when Twilight had found him, was wrapped in a blanket and sleeping. They had left the Inn and were milling around now, Wild was now sleeping in a tree?

"Wild?"

Wild, opened an eye. "What."

"Are you sleeping in a tree?"

"And you've never slept in a tree?"

"I'm not saying it's bad. But uh, it's noon."

"And this is my sleeping tree."

"Can you come down here for a sec? I need to ask you something."

Wild slid off the tree, leaving his blanket up in the tree. "What you need."

"Time said Clarese was in the clear to come with us. But you had to give the okay."

"Me? Why?" Wild had a good idea why but he was wondering if Time knew as well. 

"He said something about you not liking her. I'm not sure if you two know each other from another place or-"

"We do know each other, actually." Wild interrupted. "Or we know of each other."

Twilight put his hands on his hips. "Then mind explaining?"

Wild so desperately wanted to yell at Twilight. _She's Yiga! The Yiga want to kill me! She wants to resurrect Ganon!_ But the next image he thought of was Twilight, when he had confessed to him about the Twilight princess, the one that left him he had said. 

"How much has she told you about her home life?" He opted to asking instead.

"Not much? She grew up in the Gerudo Highlands. She's an offset of the Sheikah clan."

"And that rings _no_ bells for you?"

"Should it?"

Wild put a hand to his forehead. "No. I guess not." 

"Wild what's going on?"

"Nothing. She can come with." Better the enemy you know. He mused. 

"There's something you're not telling me here."

"It's not something you need to know yet."

"Wild." Twilight folded his arms. 

"Just- She's not all that you think she is."

"Look Wild if you don't like her I'm willing to talk this out with you."

"I'm going back into my tree Twilight." Wild turned away from him. 

"You- fine." He could hear Twilight stalk off behind him. 

"See you at three." Wild called. 

"Yeah, you too."

\---

Now, Four wasn't the most romantically inclined. That title belonged to Warriors and maybe Time if you counted the days at the ranch. 

He will say however. Twilight getting a girlfriend in Wild's home turf was so unexpected that if Four had found out while eating he would have spat his water out. 

Twilight was mild mannered, had a lot to say when it came to heroism and farms, and didn't talk as much as Wind or Hyrule did. He wasn't exactly carrying a signal that said 'I'm single and desperate please date me' either. 

But whatever the reason, Clarese was here and she was good conversation on the road. They had set out on the path an hour ago and Four and her were already discussing his previous career as a blacksmith. 

"Did you make your own weapon?" She had asked. 

Four had told her that it was a gift. Which it was, in most ways. He had been excited to learn that her father was a silversmith in his pastime. Clarese even pulled out a small bracelet she carried around to show him. It was simple and clean but well put together with a small red gem buried in the metal. "It's colored glass." She explained. "We bought a lot when we learned that it could pass as gems. Most of the girls in my family have a copy of this. The men have rings."

"It's well crafted. Have you ever worked with him in the forge?" 

"My mother often told me not to bother him. He was bust a lot. I would watch from afar."And their conversation continued. She had never done any work herself but only watched occasionally. She had been more impressed with magic and studied it with her cousins. 

"Can you heal?"

"I can fight." She offered. 

"Well, I guess if you fight well enough you don't need to be healed."

"Exactly."

While they chatted together. Twilight stayed more in the back, leading Horse the horse carrying all their gear. Most of what people could part with anyway, like Four's tools or Legend's various clothing.

Four did notice that Clarese didn't part with any of her gear. All she carried was a small pack at her hip. "It holds a lot more than you think it would." She said. "What else are charms for?"

Yes, most of them had a small charm on their bag or pockets they had received from great fairies or some other great being. It was one of the perks to being a hero. You could always fit something you needed with you. Always just enough space for it to go. It was strange that Clarese had a pack light that despite not being Hylia's chosen, but in a world where Wild had a slate that can hold absolutely anything, Four wasn't going to rule anything out. 

They spent most of the day walking. Occasionally Twilight would pipe up and mention that he and Clarese had crossed this, or saw that on the way here. Apparently they had come through this way. 

When Time had called for a stop. The lights of Tarrey Town were dim in the distance. The rush of a river could be heard close by as the trees around them swayed from a nice breeze.

Horse the horse was glad to stop walking. Four watched as she nearly threw off all their gear when Twilight pulled her to a rest.

"She seems mild mannered." He commented. "Was she this fun on your way here?"

"Well she did run away once. But that was because Twilight forgot to tie her down." She answered. "We lost a lot of time backtracking to find her."

"Don't tell Horse but she's one of the most moody horses I've had the pleasure of spending my time with." Twilight added. 

"You're holding her by the reins. I'm pretty sure she can hear you."

"Hearing, and knowing what I'm saying are two very different things."

"Well I'm sure if she could hear you right now she would be very unhappy."

“After working with them for so long I’m not sure horses even have feelings.” Twilight speculated. 

“I think if you ask Wild he’d say the same. He’s spent a lot of time with horses right? Or Time. He lives with them.” Four suggested. 

“I’d ask Wild if he would quit being difficult.” Twilight scowled. 

“Did you two have a falling out?” Clarese asked. 

“Not really. He’s just being hard to talk to right now.” 

Four frowned. Wild and Twilight were as close as ever. Like Legend and Hyrule, their close placement in the timeline had led to a brotherly bond that Four almost envied. Whatever was going on between them he hoped it wasn’t anything major. 

Four remembered Wild’s aversion to Clarese earlier. When they were meeting together. Glancing over at her, she didn’t seem to know any more then he did.

—-

It took them a bit longer to actually settle down and unload Horse. It was mostly silent save for Sky fetching his harp and strumming a few tunes while the rest of them did their business. 

“What firewood do we have?” Time looked at Wild expectantly. “Do you have any?” 

Wild quickly checked the slate. “Not enough for the night. Should I go get more?” 

“That would be wonderful. Thank you for volunteering.” 

“I’ll go with.” Four volunteered. “No use in ditching the buddy system now.” 

“If you want to go along you can. Be sure to be back soon or I’ll send someone to find you.”

"I'll count on that old man." Four followed Wild into the thick overbrush. 

As soon as they reached a far enough place away, Wild began talking. "So I know you came out here to talk about my attitude, but before we start should we blow up trees and collect the remains? Or look for fallen wood."

Wild didn't come here to play around apparently. "Well one, you're right I'm curious. And two, I've never used a bomb to harvest wood before. But I think it's too late at night to do that safely." 

"Well we're in a cramped area, what would we attract?"

"Don't know. A lynel?"

"There are no lynels around here. You can rest easy about that one. But you're right." Wild put his slate away. "Looking for sticks it is."

Both of their attention was immediately pulled away by a loud snap far off. 

"Potential dinner?" Wild asked no one. 

"A threat?"

"I doubt it." Wild shrugged it off. "If you want to go check I won't stop you, but I'm going to get this wood we promised."

Four wearily stepped forward. "I'm going to check it out."

"Have fun. Bring back any wood you find."

"Will do."

Wild watched as Four turned around a tree. He didn't remember these trees being so thick. He doubted that the campsite would hear him if he started yelling.

Wild would have appreciated a light at the moment. But apart from lighting one of the trees on fire he really couldn't think of a way to get it. 

All of these thoughts were discarded from his mind when he felt a sharp point on the small of his back, and a cool yet feminine voice. 

"Give me one good reason not to slice you through right now." Clarese had followed them it seems.

Wild breathed slowly. She was in more danger than he was at the moment. _You have fairies on you. You're not going to die no matter what happens._

"Well for starters, Twilight would probably break up with you." He stated. 

"You're not funny."

"Sure I'm not. I'm freaking out right now can't tell?"

"You've killed so many of my family." He could feel the knife shaking. Was she scared?

"They all tried to kill me first." He argued. "Self preservation mean anything to you?"

"Then why did you storm our home." She spoke through gritted teeth. A hint of slight desperation in her voice. "The people there did _nothing_ to you."

"The Gerudo thunder helm." He said calmly. "It's all I was after."

"You don't get to justify the death of so many with that."

"Yiga keep trying to kill me."

"The actions of a few don't justify the slaughter of an entire people." The knife was pulled away, he could hear her quiet tears. _"I had a sister."_

His heart fell. "I'm sorry."

"I don't believe you." She cried. 

Wild tried to turn around, he was grabbed by the arm and slammed into the ground. "You're paying with your blood." She seethed. Holding him tightly, her curved knife placed under his throat.

"You're trying to resurrect Ganon! Is that not wrong to you?" Wild tried to justify himself. 

"Take one look at Hryule's Kings now and then. We're they ever interested in saving any of us?" She spat. "Chaos is now more profitable than ever. A tyrant isn't going to help anyone."

"Yeah well okay. Hyrulian kings don't have the best track record, but was Calamity Ganon the only other option? What about a democracy?"

"I'm not talking politics with you. I'm going to kill you."

Wild was almost growing tired. He was going to be fine. "Okay? How are you going to explain this to Twilight?"

"This has nothing to do with him."

"Seeing as we're brothers I'm pretty sure it does."

"You're his-" She faltered. 

"I am. Now will you get off me? My back is pressed against a very hard rock. And like Time said he's going to send someone to check up on us if we're gone too long."

She glared at him. Removing the knife from his throat she hauled herself off of Wild, who picked himself up, brushing the dirt off his knees. 

"I'm not doing this for you." She growled. 

"I'm not expecting you to even like me. Hell I'm not convinced that you're not going to try again in a few seconds. But I'm not going to kill you because Twilight's cares for you. Hopefully you're looking at this the same way."

"Fine."

"Do we have a no kill deal then?"

"I hate you."

"It's mutual."

"-ild so I checked it out and I couldn't find anything. It might have been a- Clarese?" Four rounded the trees to see Clarese and Wild staring at him. 

"Time sent me out here." She lied. "You were taking a while."

"Huh, well blame animals because I don't think we've collected enough yet." Four said showing her arms full of a few branches. 

"You should go back to the others, tell them we got distracted by an animal." Wild suggested. 

"Yeah. I'll do that." She turned from them. "See you two back at camp."

Four shot him a pointed stare as she walked away. Wild shrugged, watching her back. 

She was out of earshot when Four spoke. "So do I get to know what just happened or?"

Wild sighed. "If I tell you, do you promise not to tell Twilight?"

\---

"Wait hold up." Four shook his head as Wild stacked more logs in his arms. They had found a fallen tree and decided to massacre it. "So the Yiga clan lives in the desert, and their main goal is to bring back Ganon?"

"Yes."

"And Twilight managed to start dating one not knowing that their main goal is the destruction of Hyrule."

Wild rolled his eyes. "No, they think Ganon will save Hyrule. But yes, that's basically what's happening."

"That fucked up. And also extremely hilarious."

"Tell me about it."

"So," Four prompted. "Does she know who you are?"

"Yeah. And she knows I know who she really is."

"And she hasn't tried to kill you yet?"

Wild raised an eyebrow. "She literally just tried. She stopped because she's not an idiot."

Four's eyes widened. "And you're not going to tell anyone?"

"Not if you don't."

"Wild that's-"

"Take one good look at Twilight and tell me he needs this kind of complication in his life right now."

"He is literally dating someone that want's to murder you."

"But does he need the heartache?"

Four's jaw dropped. "You- you- Nevermind. I won't tell Time if you don't want me to. But if she tries again I don't care if Twilight's married to her, he would need to know."

"He'll know someday." Wild sighed. "But you can see it in the way they look at each other. This is real. It's not a front on her part to get close enough to me." 

"Well I can definitely see that. Doesn't matter to me. Wouldn't you want to know?"

"You have no heart."

"And you're lacking a brain dude. Just pray to Hylia that this doesn't blow up in your face."

Wild shrugged. Both of their arms now full of wood. "It's all up to chance now. Hopefully I can manage to get Twilight to break up with her before we reach Kakariko. I might be willfully ignorant but the Sheikah sure won't be."

"Let's head back to camp."

"Yeah. That sounds alright."

\---

When they got back to camp, Time gave them a solemn look. "You took a while. Were you held up by something?"

"Four thought he heard something in the woods. We had to go check it out." Wild told him. "Just a fox."

Time nodded. "A few have already fallen asleep. Be careful not to wake anyone. I'm on watch for the night."

Wild nodded. Glancing around to see that Legend, Hyrule and Sky were asleep. Warriors was still laying out his bedrole as he made light conversation with himself on the topic of something Wild couldn't hear.

Twilight was asleep, Clarese laid out a few feet away from her, her back turned away from him. She might still be awake. 

"I'll start the fire." Four offered. "You sleep Wild. You'll be spending most of your time navigating us tomorrow."

"Thank you." Wild tiptoed over to his supplies. "Night you guys."

"Night Wild. Sleep tight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof Clarese is taking this hard. Hopefully this turns out well for everyone.


	4. How it ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How this all comes together! Four tries his best, Wild tries his best, Twilight tries his best, and Clarese is too good, too pure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so forget everything I said in earlier notes about the last chapter being super long or whatever, this whole ass chapter is a whopping 10k, taking it's rightful place as the longest chapter I have ever written. 
> 
> Now that I think of it it could have been 2 chapters but honestly I like it.

Four felt very close to pulling his hair out. 

Of all the people in the camp, Four liked to imagine that he was the only one with a brain in this situation. What was the situation you ask? Oh nothing, just a little hint of murder and Twilight not connecting dots. 

To recap, because it was absolutely mind boggling to him that this was even happening. Twilight got a girlfriend. That girlfriend has dedicated her entire life to killing Wild. Wild knows this and has actively avoided telling anyone to not break Twilight's heart. So when Twilight's girlfriend actually tries to kill him, he only tells Four because he walked in on it and  _ directly after _ asks him not to say anything.

Sorry but what? The fuck? 

Four had slept on it, and no. He was not going to sit down and watch an enemy just flaunt herself in front of them and expect him to be okay with it. Time had to know. Legend had to know.  _ Twilight _ had to know. He might not tell Warriors because Twilight needed his pride, but you don't just date someone trying to kill Wild. Not on his watch. 

Had he promised Wild he wouldn't say anything? Yeah, but Wild was also extremely dumb when it came to his personal safety. 

As soon as Four had woken up, which had to be earlier mind you, he had crawled directly over to Twilight. Shaking him awake. Clarese's bed role was close to him so he needed to keep quiet. 

"Twilight, wakey wakey." He whispered. 

Twilight sighed, raising a slow hand to brush Four away. "What." He mumbled. 

"I found something. It's really cool, I need to show it to you now."

Twilight cracked an eye open. "Now? Really?" 

"Yes now. It's super awesome and if you make me miss it so swear Hylia I will make you pay."

"Fine fine 'm getting up."

Four relented, retracting his hands from Twilight's shoulders. "And be quiet. I don't want anyone else to wake up."

"Sure whatever."

Four sat impatiently as Twilight stretched, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Can you hurry maybe?"

"Four it is way too early for you to ask me to go anywhere with you. I don't care if this shiny rock of yours could feed me, I am not going to hurry up."

Four rolled his eyes. "You're like twenty you'll be fine."

"I need my beauty sleep."

"For what? Scared you'll be out of a relationship?"  _ If all ended well, he would be. _

Twilight scowled. "Shut up."

"Fine fine now c'mon." Four jumped around on the balls of his feet waiting for Twilight to catch up. 

"This thing had better be a fairy fountain or something."

"It's even better I promise."

Eventually Twilight begrudgingly followed Four out of the clearing. Four tried to think of a place that would be soundproof, or somewhere they wouldn't be followed. 

"So why me? Why no Wind, isn't he your go to adventure buddy?"

"Wind can't turn into a wolf."

Twilight sighed again. "Do you need me to?"

"No?"

Twilight stared dumbfounded at Fours back. "Then why?"

"Because."

When Four thought they were far enough away from everyone, he turned to face Twilight. "Here we are!"

Twilight's eyes swept over the few trees surrounding them and the one rock covered in moss. "If this is some sort of prank."

"Ok I don't have something to show you. But I do have something to say."

Twilight pinched the bridge of his nose. "Four I swear."

"Hey hey no this is important! It has to be private."

"Ok? What is it?"

Four pursed his lips, how to begin. "What do you know about the Yiga clan?"

Twilight gave him a blank stare. " Never heard of them."

"Really, because Wild told us all about them when we were in the desert a few weeks ago. Remember they're the group of people that travel Hyrule trying to resurrect Ganon?"

"Now that you mention it I think I remember Wild saying that. What about them? They're not a problem are they?"

"Not really. But yes. A very big problem."

"Not really but yes?" Twilight repeated. "Four what the-"

"Ok so I'm not good at explaining things but they want to kill Wild because he killed Ganon. And now they're trying to resurrect Ganon. And they live in the desert."

"You are repeating yourself."

"Yes I know, I am trying to figure out how to tell you that-" He shut up as he heard a tree branch snap. "What was that?" He asked.

"That was me trying to figure out where you guys were." Without warning Wild dropped down from a tree.

Four stared, open mouthed at Wild. "Wild I-"

"Wild? Four? What the hell is going on here?" Twilight demeaned. "Why am I being dragged into a forest? Why is Four doing the dragging? Is there actually anything I need to see?"

"Nope!" Wild chirped. "Go away."

"What?"

"Away, now, please." Wild quipped. He strode forward, turned Twilight around and started pushing him away. "Go away."

"You are answering so many questions later."

"Uhuh. But not right now."

"I swear to Hylia."

"Hmmmhmh sure."

As soon as Twilight disappeared from the foliage Wild turned to face Four. "Ok so what the fuck what that Four?"

Four wanted to scream. "What do you mean what was that! I am trying to save your life!"

"You said you wouldn't say anything."

"And you can't take a second to think this through!" Four yelled. "What is the goal here? Keep Twilight in the dark? Just so he can get his heart broken when you die or we switch worlds and he never sees her again? What's your end goal here?"

"What's my goal? What's yours? You tell him his girlfriend is trying to kill me and then what? He takes it like you told him his swords need to be sharpened?"

What? What??? "Wild, she had tried to kill you already!"

"Yeah?"

"D-Do you need more than that!?" Four grabbed at his hair. "Your life is in danger and your priority is to keep Twilight in a bubble that you  _ know _ is going to backfire."

"Do you know how hard that would hit him? He'd be torn up, demolished."

"He's been dating her for less than a week. I don't think this will end him Wild."

"How do you know that?"

"Are you dead serious right now."

"As dead as Clarese wants me."

Four slapped his forehead. "Well what do you want me to do? Ignore this?"

"Preferably." 

"I am going to scream."

\---

In the end, Wild had to pick him up and forcefully carry him back to camp. "If you say one word of this to Time I will end you."

"Not if she kills you first."

"I have a lot of fairies on me, I'd like to see her try."

Four had stopped trying to argue with him after that. There was no reasoning with him. "When this all goes to hell, I'm going to say I told you so."

"Go ahead."

Back at camp Wild unceremoniously dropped Four on the ground in front of the ground. 

"You boys have fun?" Legend asked nonchalantly. 

"Plenty." Four grumbled, shooting him a dirty look. 

\---

Four was angry. Scratch that he wanted to take his sword out and cut something. Should he write a note to Twilight? He now knew he had Wild watching him like a hawk so any move to tell him would be intercepted. This was hell. 

He glanced at Twilight. He was up ahead with Legend, talking in low voices about something, probably emo boy stuff he didn't care. 

Clarese walked father back, she had begun talking to Wind, interested to learn what the ocean was like. 

See that was the thing, if Twilight and Clarese were annoying about their relationship Four would have done everything in his power to break them up, Yiga or not. 

They acted more like people who happened to be better friends or something. Why couldn't they have been more annoyingly gross or something? Then he could get more people on his without having to tell him. But no! Fate had to be against him.

He had to admit, Clarese was good at talking to people, it was hard to avoid talking to her, she knew he knew about her and still she would occasionally come up to him and ask him about random tidbits that on any other point in time he would gladly spend hours talking about. But he would just give her a curt answer, she would smile and thank him, and the conversation would be over. 

He took notice however, that they would hold hands a lot. Of course when someone pointed it out in a joking tone or they simply noticed someone was watching they would stop and Twilight would turn bright pink. Clarese would laugh it off and things would be normal. 

Whenever they stopped for a rest or needed to bring Horse the horse to a river to drink, the two would wander off and go 'do stuff, talk about things, you know.' Twilight had said. Four wanted to follow them but was always stopped by Wild. 

"Trust me Four, you do not want to follow them."

After that he didn't really try to.

\---

Twilight held Clarese's hand as they walked along the edge of the river. The group had stopped for a bit, the two of them taking the time to stroll and be alone together for what felt like only a few moments. 

Today they weren't talking about much. There wasn't much to say.

"You look tired." Clarese broke the silence. 

"Do I?"

"Yeah, you have the old man eyes. The ones where you squint at everything."

He laughed. "Really?" He squinted at her. "What makes you say that Clare."

She snorted lightly brushing his shoulder. "Don't look at me like that."

"What, like I'm tired?"

"I just said that."

Twilight shook his head. "I must have forgotten. It must be my old man ears."

"I said you looked tired! Not that you were old."

"My age is a very sensitive subject. You should know this."

Clarese smiled. "Whatever you say."

"But do I look tired? I'm not, not really."

"Have you been waking up earlier?"

"Wake up the same time you do."

"Hm, guess it's just me then."

"Yeah." Twilight joked. "Not all of us can keep up with desert time. It's always sunny there ain't it? Even in winter?"

"Even in winter." She confirmed. 

A thought struck Twilight, something that Four had said a while ago in a failed prank? He would have to get back to Wild on that. 

"Hey Clare, can I ask you something desert related?"

"Go ahead."

"You've heard of the Yiga Clan right?"

Clarese opened her mouth, then closed it. She pursed her lips, eyes raking the scenery in front of them. "Yes. Yes I have.” There was a long pause. “What about them?"

Twilight shrugged. "Nothing much. Just heard Four mention them."

"I see. What did he say exactly?"

Twilight thought back, what had Four said? "Something about Ganon, resurrecting him and trying to kill Wild."

"Oh."

"Yeah, that's kinda fucked up actually. Trying to kill my brother and all." 

“. . .”

"The Hero guy you're after wouldn't happen to be a part of those people would he? Desert clans going at each other?"

Twilight didn't really understand the look that Clarese was giving him, but he would put it in the ballpark of a 'What are you talking about' expression. 

"Uh, yeah. They're pretty weird." Clarese said after a bit. "And uh, no. They're not really a problem in the desert. They keep to themselves mostly."

"Really? You'd think that a group of people hellbent on bringing back the greatest evil man has ever known would be more prominent."

". . . yeah."

"As long as you're safe. And your family of course. I'd hate it if you were in any danger because of them."

She opened her mouth as if she were going to say something. "Yeah. Yeah of course. Don't worry." She gave him a cheeky smile. "Besides I know how to fight."

Twilight returned the grin. "Guess I shouldn't have to worry about it then."

\---

Baffled. That was a good word for Clarese to use at the moment right?

Right?

She spared a glance at her loving, kind, and patient boyfriend who apparently had never lived here before?

Did- did he not know?

Was he not making the connection?

Did she unintentionally lie to him about her clan? Clarese dug through her mind, she had said something along the lines of 'group of offset sheikah, you know what I'm talking about right?' and Twilight had said 'yeah' and then she had asked 'you're okay with that?'

Because in her mind he actually knew she was talking about the Yiga clan? Did Twilight not know what the Yiga clan was? They were as infamous as the Hebra mountains, how did someone not know what she meant when she said 'desert people who are not the gerudo' was there anyone else she was not aware of?

She thought he just didn't make the connection between Wild being the guy who killed half of her clan. 

Clarese broke as many pots in her mind as she could without showing it on her face. 'Pretty fucked up.' That was Twilight's opinion on her. Good to know. Really would have been great to know this information earlier. 

Looking at him now. He was wistfully gazing at the river, letting the sun bounce off his soft hair. Dammit. She was screwed. 

"Let's go back." She suggested. "The others are probably wondering where we are."

Twilight squeezed her hand. "Sounds like a plan."

\---

Travelling through the woods soon came to an end. They now traversed the great and spacious oh so empty plains of central hyrule’s field. It was so exciting, there was nothing to look at. 

The three people that knew what was going on, or even that something was going on in the first place, had all reached a silent agreement to not talk about it. But if you asked any of them they would agree that they wouldn't jump at the chance to say anything about it in the first place. 

What was surprising to both Four and Clarese, was how normally Wild was treating her. When they would settle down for the night, he would offer her the first serving of food. He spoke to her peaceably, not at all like Four who would merely try and end the conversation as soon as he could. 

When asked by Four, he had just shrugged. “Call it a second, better, impression of myself.”

“You’re not seriously trying to nice your way out of this are you?”

“Let’s see what happens.”

“Oh hylia.”

\---

As a group they had decided not to cross the wetlands as a shortcut. They did not want to worry about wet clothing as well as making sure someone didn’t get stuck in the mud. What it did force them to trek through however was the higher elevation as they crossed the hills signaling they were getting closer to the mountains. You could see them in the distance if you tried.

“I’m going to call it here.” Time announced. It was a warm night, the insects could be heard chirping all around them, the hills had jagged cutouts that would make a great place to sleep under. 

There was an hour left of sun at least. Wind excitedly asked Time if it was alright if they ran around the area. "It would be a crime not to!" He claimed. "Just look at all the great spots for hide and seek."

Time chuckled. "You can do whatever you want, as long as you're back within the hour."

"Score!" Wind shouted. He bolted before anyone could even offer to follow him, but weary and tired as they were it was fun to see someone with that amount of energy. 

Four, not wanting to just sit and wait around, decided he might as well go somewhere else for the time being. 

The group broke apart, each doing their own activity. Time sat journaling, Legend decided it would be a good time to learn how to shield surf from Wild. Warriors decided to watch them from afar.

Four scaled a few boulders, hopefully he could find something to do with a birds eye view of the place. Let's see, there was a nice little outlook over there, it would probably have a great view of the mountains and the land below them. Four jumped down, a new destination in mind. 

There were a few bushes here and there, a small tree with a single apple on it. Apart from grass it was pretty barren. Birds grazed across the plains, a few sleeping under the stones that provided shade. A ram was out there, chilling. Four could respect that. 

The view was as great as he expected. The mountains sat above a small canyon covered in lush green. The sunset cast a warm glow on the still lake at the bottom, plenty of deep green trees surrounding it. Warm breeze blew across his face, Four smiled. He wanted to go down there and explore. There probably wasn't anything special, but it looked nice.

Since this was a high point, jumping off wouldn't be wise. He would hit the ground hard and feel it in his bones. So he chose the safer option of climbing down instead. It was longer, but not risking his legs was worth the time. 

It was colder at the bottom of the canyon. The lake most likely. The trees surrounding blocked some of the light, it was darker as well. 

"Oh, You're here." Someone said.

He looked over, his face dropping when he saw Clarese sitting at the edge of the lake. 

"Where's Twilight?"

"Shield surfing I think. He wanted to try it out."

She didn't say anything, just continued to look out to the lake, tossing the occasional pebble in to disturb the water.

"How did you get down here so fast?" He questioned.

"I can teleport remember?"

"That's a Yiga thing right?"

“Yep." 

“So. . .” Four began, not knowing exactly what to say. He was speaking to the enemy.

Clarese side eyed him. “What?”

“Well I’m not going to tell anyone if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“You’re not?”

“Only because Wild asked me not to, and he keeps intercepting me when I try to. If it was up to me you would be long gone.”

She rolled her eyes. “Comforting.”

Four, now he was curious. Here was a gateway to all the knowledge of the Yiga clan you could ever ask for. And she seemed willing to talk. If he could just ask her a few things.

“So are all of your family . . ?” Four ventured, a question left unsaid hanging in the air.

“Yes. Everyone.” She replied stiffly.

“Really, interesting.”

“We’re a tribe, it’s how tribes work.”

“But you said your dad was a silversmith.”

“We’re not all soldiers. Some are mothers, others are smiths, others make the food that we all eat, you can choose what you want to be.”

“And you chose to be a soldier?”

Clarese nodded. “My cousin wanted to be a soldier. If you choose to fight you learn the better magic. The higher level magic.”

“You’re taught magic?”

“How else do you learn it? We can’t be blessed by the gods with it so we make our own brand. The sheikah have used magic for centuries, we’ve just evolved it to a different path.”

“So your cousin wanted to learn magic, and you wanted to follow her.”

She nodded again.

“Huh, that’s pretty impressive. Awful that you have to use it to kill people but impressive.”

Clarese gave him a harsh glare. “I’ve never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it.” 

“Well you literally tried to kill Wild. I’m not sure you understand how much of a bad thing that is.”

“Wild is a murderer.” She said through gritted teeth. “I’m not sure you understand how much of a bad thing  _ that _ is.”

“Killing people that want to resurrect ganon? And bring destruction to Hyrule? Killing the people who want to kill you is self defense.” Four was very glad that there was no one around to hear this. He was openly talking to someone who would probably kill him given the chance.

Clarese thought for a moment. 

“Have you ever read a history book before the calamity?”

“What?”

“History. Have you ever read it.”

Well, seeing as Four’s historic knowledge consisted of things that happened hundreds and thousands of years ago, he would go with a solid no. 

“Yeah.” He lied. “What about it?”

“Hyrule’s been caught in an endless cycle. A tyrant king had a magical daughter. The daughter has everything handed to her. Magic, gold, anything she could have wanted, the blessing of the goddesses at birth. The most recent Hyrulian king this kingdom had brought endless war on his own country, sapping resources from us that were unnecessary. Ganon comes, every time, and kills the King.”

“And you see that as a good thing?”

Clarese shrugged. “It’s choosing the better of two evils. A king who rules with an iron fist and forces a shiny smile on your face, beating down anyone who disagrees with him? Or a faceless monster who can’t even democratic decisions, leaving it to the people to make their own decisions when it comes to their political rule? Look at Hyrule just a few years ago.” She continued. “We used to be dedicated to scratching up every bit of land for its resources, ever since the calamity, nature has reclaimed so much. People have their own systems of government in their homes, we’re more self sufficient than ever when it comes to survival. Everyone knows how to defend themselves at least somewhat. We’re a stronger society.”

But, a hero comes along, and kills ganon. The magical princess is always put back on the seat and while she might rule better than her father, the cycle will follow through again and Hryule is going to fall once more.”

She spared a glance at Four. “We were trying to stop the hero. Let Hyrule stay as it was. Then he succeeded, and we turned our eyes on resurrection.”

Four nodded. As soon as their motives were explained, it was easy to see where the problems lie. Oh how could he explain this to her without saying  _ ‘Hey I’m from a different period in history!’ _

“If you look back in the history books, Ganon used to be a Gerudo man.” That was a good place to start. “His name was Ganondorf and his goal was to overthrow the kingdom. He used to be smart.”

“I’m aware that he wasn’t always a beast, but a Gerudo? They are only born once a hundred years aren’t they?”

“Yeah, well this one was a bad egg. Anyway- Ganondorf died at the hands of a hero, he was resurrected because some bad people really liked his tyrannical rule over Hyrule and-” Four tried to remember all he could about Twilight and Time’s journeys. 

“But the problem is, when you submerge yourself in dark magic- which is what he did to get the power to overthrow an entire kingdom, it warps you, destroys your soul, changes you into, well you know, whatever calamity ganon is. And resurrection, it’s never gone through well, it fucks you up like dark magic can, it harms the land, it’s not natural, it kills more than it brings back.”

“And it creates Calamity Ganon?” She guessed.

“Bingo. There’s no telling what would happen to Hyrule if he was brought back.”

“Then what! We sit back and let it continue? We just wait around for Ganon to come back naturally? We sit back and watch Hyrule crumble under tyrannical rule? The Yiga were born from a hatred of the crown, nothing can change that.”

Four sighed. “We both want the best for Hyrule. We just have different ideas of what’s best.”

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious.”

Four scowled. “I’m trying to reach an understanding here.”

“Go ahead.”

“Calamity Ganon might have felt like a good thing, and it truly might have been for the better of Hyrule, who knows, but that was only because he was trapped in the castle.” Almost an hour ago Four had little to no opinion about Wild’s Hyrule. All his information had come from Wild’s stories and a general sense of what had happened from just being around the place. “If it was up to him, senseless destruction would have reigned. His madness or whatever the name was-”

“Malice.”

“Yeah, Malice.” Four wilted. He didn’t know enough to argue this with her. He knew deep down that if Ganon had stayed it would have been for the worse, but he didn’t know what to say to her to get Clarses to see what he did.

“I think, if you actually want to know it all, you should talk to Wild.” 

“The number one most biased person against me?”

“No I think that’s still me.”

“Realy?”

“You’re dating his brother. I don’t Wild is going to curbstomp you.”

“Huh, comforting.”

Four changed the subject. “How did you meet Twilight anyway? You said bokoblins?”

“I was sleeping. Bokoblins decided that I would be a great snack. It would be easy to take a few down, but when they get a surprise stab in it only gets harder after that.”

“You were travelling alone?”

“We always travel alone. Unless you’re important. But Twilight wasn’t far off. He heard me scream and saved me.”

“Romantic.”

“Shut up. We agreed to travel together since we seemed to be going to the same place. We kept talking, he was really nice.” Four could see a light blush creeping up her cheeks. “He taught me how to ride a horse.”

So horse riding was the tipping point eh? Four couldn’t help a snicker. 

“What?”

“No, nothing. I just think it’s cute.”

Clarese cocked her head. “Thanks?”

Strange, just sitting down and talking together, they had gone from Clarese’s home life, to arguing that Wild isn’t the worst person on earth, to the morality of resurrecting Ganon, to how cute she and Twi were together, and it was still early afternoon. And yes, he still hated her. Why was she even here?

Four hadn’t realized how dark it had gotten. It was well past the hour allotted by Time. He stood up. “It’s dark should we go-” he stopped as he saw a dog approaching them in the dark. “Wolfie?”

“Who’s Wolfie?” Clarese followed his eyes and settled them on the wolf. 

Wolfie, or Twilight, seemed surprised to see Clarese here. Four had to force a sly grin off his face. Twilight hadn’t been planning that had he?

“Wolfie, is the wolf that follows Twilight around. It’s kinda like his dog.”

“Dog huh? Twilight said he didn’t have one.” She crouched down, opening her hand, beckoning Wolfie to her. Four had to hold his breath to keep him from laughing. 

Twilight hesitantly padded forward. Letting Clarese pet him. “Awww.” She cooed. “He’s so sweet.” She furrowed her eyes for a moment. “Is there a reason he has the exact same markings on his head that Twilight does?”

“Uh, no. No one really knows why, we chalk it up to coincidence and maybe some otherworldly magic.” 

“Ah, I see.” The grin was back, a dumb little smile spread across her face. “Now let’s get back to the campsite.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

After a minute of walking, they had to take a longer way around since they couldn’t exactly climb back up. 

“Four can I ask something.” Clarese started, Wolfie stuck firmly at her side. “If I were to run back to camp right now, which I won't, this is just hypothetical, would Twilight be there?”

Four almost burst into tears of laughter. Wolfie stood stock still, and if it were possible to turn white as a wolf, Wolfie was sure doing it now. 

On one hand, congratulations Clarese, she was putting something together that less than half of them could even fathom. 

On the other hand. Oh goddesses, there was no way Four could just stand there and let the Yiga clan know Twilight could turn into a wolf. Awful, horrible, it would probably be their downfall. 

“Twilight would be at camp, yeah.” Four lied. “I don’t see why he wouldn’t be.”

“Just a thought.” She mused. Clarese knelt down again, just to pet Wolfie again. “Who’s a good boy?” 

“You can pet him all you want back at camp. But for now we need to get back.” Oh hylia this was going to backfire so badly. This was all going to burn. Twilight wouldn’t be at camp and Clarese would just know. She would know. Hilarious and also, bad. 

\---

As it turned out, no one had really worried for their absence. "Twilight said he was going to come get you guys- Wolfie? What's he doing here?" Wind explained before getting sidetracked. 

Four coughed into his sleeve. "Wolfie has decided to grace us with his presence."

"Did Twilight get lost looking for you guys?" Wind asked. "Should we look for him?"

Time waved Wind off. "He'll be fine. He knows his way around."

Wind nodded avidly. "Yes yes, he will be fine. But hey Clarese! You're in luck!"

"How so?"

"Wolfie has a specific rule, he only lets pretty ladies kiss him. And Wild. But he doesn't count."

Clarese blushed. "Does he? That's good to know."

"Yep! He snaps at everyone else. Trust me, I've tried." Wind lamented. 

\---

The morning came, at some point during the night Twilight had been swapped for Wolfie, the mysterious wolf gone in the moonlight like everytime. Wild was honestly surprised no one else had figured it out. Who knew so far, him, Legend, Four, Time and now Clarese probably. That was five out of ten. Not bad, but surprising still.

Clarese still hadn't lost the smug grin, Twilight had refused to look at her for all of breakfast, only to give in once they started walking again. 

They were just past halfway there now. The mountains were just beyond them. Going around them would take time but Kakariko would be right there. 

Would the expert Sheikah immediately recognize a Yiga in their midst? Wild thought. It would be sad if she was shunned out of the village. 

Would they even let her in? Well how would they even know she was a part of the enemy. Well the clothes actually. Those would be a dead giveaway. Thankfully Wild had a way to fix that. 

"Hey Clarese." He took her attention. 

She turned her head to greet him. "Yes?"

"So we're on our way to Kakariko right?"

"Yes? Unless we're going somewhere else, in which I haven't been informed."

"Yeah, well I was thinking." He brought his voice low so no one would be able to hear him. "Would they recognize you?"

"What do you mean- Oh, that." She bit her lip. "I don't know. I was thinking that when we got there I would just not go in. Make some excuse of this being your journey not mine."

"Like Twilight would buy that." Wild scoffed. "Anyway, your clothes are a dead giveaway. I wouldn't have been able to tell unless you were wearing them. I have spare clothing if you'd like to wear them. They look similar to traditional sheikah stealth garb, or I have some regular travelers clothes. You could throw your coat over those if you wanted."

She regarded him for a moment. 

"Hey, you don't have to if you don't feel comfortable doing it. It was just an offer-"

"Why are you so nice to me?" She interrupted him.

Wild blinked. What did he say? 'lol just trying to prove that I'm not a monster.' or maybe 'This is my way of apologizing for killing your family.' 

"Because, Twilight cares for you, and that means I should too." Yeah, that sounded noble enough. 

She kept her eyes on him a little longer before giving in. "Alright. I'll take whatever clothes you think would fit me best."

Wild nodded. "You would look killer in the traveler's clothes from Hateno. Completely knock Twilight dead."

"Hateno? that one village in the east?"

"Yeah! It's my favorite place in Hyrule."

"Alright. That sounds nice. Thank you WIld."

"No problem." He began to walk away before he remembered something he should probably mention. "And by the way. Not everyone knows about Wolfie, so don't mention it to anyone ‘cept me or Four."

"Don't we have enough secrets between the three of us?"

Wild laughed. "Probably."

\---

Clarese, well she was feeling a lot of things at the moment. 

Wrapped up in the used clothes of someone who killed her little sister, she was actually quite comfy in them. They were warm but not too warm that she was uncomfortable.

Knowing she had accidentally lied about her identity to her boyfriend, and that it would all come crashing down on her shoulders at some point, that felt pretty bad. 

Knowing that she was close enough to the killer of one fourth of her clan, Master Kohga's downfall, that he was willing to lend her his used clothes? That also made her feel really guilty. 

But what even was guilt anymore? She had talked with Four the other night. It had all been in self defense? What had Wild known about them when he went in to just get the thunder helm? Did his ignorance excuse his actions?

Was she even on the right side anymore?

She sighed. Here she stood, alone behind a boulder, changing into clothes that weren't even hers so she could sneak into a village that would probably kill her, all because she wanted to follow a boy she had fallen in love with one night. All the while having a moral dilemma that made her question all she was taught to know. 

What would mother say if she could see her only daughter now? "You disappoint me." "What are you doing spending your time like this? With the enemy?" "If only your sister were alive to see you now." Something like that maybe. Something to express her disappointment in her and make Clarese want to shrivel into herself. 

What would Her cousin, Suzuna, tell her? Her beloved cousin who had been there since she was born. "You silly little sand goose. I remember my first relationship." And she would talk in detail about the Gerudo women who had captured her heart when she was seventeen. Clarese had heard the story a hundred times. She was only eleven when it all happened. But she still loved to hear her cousin talk about it over and over again.

Now dressed and ready, these clothes were a light blue. The pants were worn and comfy, she kept her boots but the rest went in her pack. The tell tale mask of the Yiga at the very bottom. She didn't remember ever putting it on to fight someone. Or wearing it past the initial 'see if it fits' test.

Could she even wear it? Twilight had told her, this group was tossed around Hyrule at the whims of the unknown. Would she trek around Hyrule for the sole purpose of being an outsider in a group where half of them hate her? 

She imagined going home. Walking to the Gerudo Canyon stable, passing by the bazaar if she wanted too. She had made friends with the few merchants that were crazy enough to stay there long term. Maybe she would try and live there for a but before going home. Foot soldiers never really went home unless they were badly injured or knew they were going to fail.

Was she a failure? She didn't dwell on it. There were other things to do. At least that she was taught well on. 

\---

Wild was doing pretty well in his “Making friends with Twilight’s murderous girlfriend” plan. She was nice to him, it might have been all fake but as long as Wild was getting to her he was happy. 

Of course, he still had something to do.

He asked if she would be alright with a private conversation. One where they walked ahead of everyone else, where they avoided knives. 

Clarese hesitantly agreed. Eyeing him as they jogged ahead of the rest. Only stopping when they were at least half a mile ahead, far out of earshot, and with trees, not seen by anyone. 

"Sorry to pull you aside like this. I know Four's done it at least one and-"

“What do you need?”

Wild looked aside. "I just want to say I'm sorry."

Her face, which had previously been relatively friendly, was now devoid of emotion. “What?”

"I know this sounds hollow, and that I might not really mean it at all. But I'm sorry. I've done a lot to destroy your clan, and while I still think what you guys are doing is wrong, and I already know we disagree on almost everything, like politics, whether or not Ganon is a force for good or evil, or both. But it doesn't matter right now because I've hurt you."

“We’re enemies, you don’t need to apologize.”

"I know. It's hard to say, especially after knowing your side. but I still think that what I did was right, at least in the end. I did it to protect myself and the people I loved. I'm sorry that the people you loved had to be involved."

Wild’s apology was sincere. He wanted to make it up to her, show her that he wasn’t doing anything out of malice, that he wasn’t some monster that she was raised to think he was. 

He waited for her to say something, she was staring at him, eyes locked with his. 

"Adeline." She started. "Her name was Adeline. She was eighteen and good at magic. Better than I am. She could move things with the smallest charms. She was my little sister. My baby sister."

“I’m sorry.”

Clarese sunk down, balancing on her feet as she crouched, “Sorry, I just need to sit for a while.”

Wild nodded, lowering himself crossing his legs.

Clarese took a breath. “Adelines best friend, he was going to prove himself to his parents by bringing back your head. That was how he was going to propose to Adeline, he told me so. He died. I know you don’t remember him.”

“I’m-”

“Please wait until I’m done.” She asked. "Adeline was enraged. She almost went mad. She would force herself to the breaking point in magic. She was going to kill you even if it killed her. It was so terrible to be around her, I spent more time away from home. More time exploring the surrounding areas. I've been to Kara Kara Bazaar more times than I could have counted just because of her. I was away when you stormed the hideout."

Well, you killed her too. And Master Kohga. And a few others that I wasn't too attached to. And suddenly, I was filled with rage as well." She laughed bitterly. "Somehow I thought that I could do better than my sister and so many others. But just as I was about to go, you won. You killed Ganon."

"I'm not going to apologize for that."

"I know, you don't have to. I can see why you did. But that stopped everything for a while. I was thrust into research, trying to learn how to resurrect the dead. A part of me thought that if we could get Ganon back, it would be possible to get my sister as well. It took another few months for me to leave. I made my way up to Akkala, there were rumors you lived there. And, well you know the rest."

"I have a pretty good idea."

“Yeah. Now I don’t know what to do.”

“How so? Can’t you just go back?”

“Killing you is a commitment. Besides, I’m starting to question everything. I need more time to myself.”

Wild furrowed his brow, he shouldn’t be the one making this suggestion but “Do you need to go off on your own?”

Clarese shook her head. “No. No, I want to stay with you all, with Twilight at least. He makes me feel safe.”

Wild grinned, “Yeah, Twi does that.”

\---

There was a giant leaf man staring at Clarese. He looked like a fat tree with a leaf for a face.

“That’s just Hetsu.” Wild explained. “He’s from the forest.”

Clarese and Twilight exchanged the same confused look. “How lovely.” Clarese began. “Is he. . . Friendly?”

“The friendliest!” Wild gave the tree man a high five. “Wait, can you guys not hear him?”

“No.” 

Wild gave an almost comical frown. "Dang, he's was excited to meet some new friends too."

The three of them were separated from the rest of the group. Twilight had caught up to them after a while, claiming something about "missing his two favorite people" which Wild promptly called bullshit on. They had decided to keep ahead, all ready to see the great Sheikah village only a half days walk away. 

Now the three of them made their way past Hetsu, the big green tree thing that made Clarese uncomfortable. 

"Strange, people normally don't see Hetsu at all. I thought I could see him because I was a hero, I assumed the same would be for Twilight. I thought that since you could see you could hear him, maybe it is a hero thing."

"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" Clarese whispered. 

"Keep smiling and nodding along to whatever he says. Makes it easier."

"What are you two saying?"

"Nothing Wild. Nothing."

Wild didn't believe them, but whatever, it's not like he needed to know anyway. He smiled thinking back to how well the hour previously had gone. He might be one more conversation away from getting Clarese away from the Yiga. He wasn't too optimistic, but she was willing to look at other opinions, it felt as if nothing could go wrong. 

But of course, Hylia was fond of cruel jokes. 

A lady came walking down the trail next to them. As if coming out of Kakariko. 

She paused when she saw Wild. A bright smile spreading across her face. "Greetings traveler! You headed to Kakariko?" 

"Yeah, just for a bit. Why?" Wild's eyes darted around her. No visible weapons, a large backpack. A merchant? 

"Just wondering what the Hero is doing here of all places." The lady's voice turned cold.

Oh  _ shit _ .

Without thinking, Wild drew his sword. Self defense kicking in. 

A flash of smoke, a masked Yiga now stood before him. Behind him Wild heard Twilight swear at the sudden threat.

"Die hero!" The yiga screamed. She spun her blades and charged towards him. On instinct he jumped back, blocking the hit with his shield. 

"Wild!" Twilight cried. He had his sword drawn as well, ready to charge. Clarese watched the two of them. Shock written on her face. "Clarese, go back and get the others."

She didn't move.

Wild was distracted, a sharp cut along his side brought him right back to reality. He parried the next blow. He couldn't stay on the defense. 

As soon as she appeared she was gone, Wild swiftly turned ready to see the Yiga behind him, instead he felt a sharp pain behind him, where he had just turned his back. 

Ignoring the pain he turned away, using the momentum of the spin to carry his sword around, slashing the Yiga. A cut alongside her arm could be seen through the ripped suit. Wild was ready to thrust the blade forward, ready to bury it to the hilt in her stomach. 

A hand jabbed the wound in his side. He doubled over in pain to watch as Clarese backed away, grabbing the hand of the Yiga, quickly leading her away from Wild. Twilight rushed to him, staring at Clarese retreat a few feet away. 

The yiga stumbled after her. "Clarese?"

She didn't answer, pulling out a potion and splashing it on her arm. 

"Why are you with the Hero?"

Wild waved away Twilight's hand, a fairy from his slate drifted around him. He would be fine.

"What the hell?" Twilight demanded. "Clarese?" He lurched forward, trying to grab Clarese's arm. 

She shrugged him off, backing away from him. "Don't touch me." She stammered. "Suzuna, go away. Run."

"You're in danger here!" The Yiga argued. "You're supposed to kill the hero!"

"Kill Wild? Clarese what's going on?" Twilight tried to grab her hand again. 

"I said don't touch me!" She backed away more, her feet stumbling on the rocks she didn't notice. Unknowingly drawing closer to a cliff. The woman removed her mask, continuing to flit between now Twilight and Clarese.

"Who is he? Have you left the yiga clan?"

"No Suzuna I-"

"Yiga Clan?" Recognition dawned on Twilight's face. "You-"

"I'm sorry." Clarese pleaded, she was red in the face, chest heaving. "I meant to- I-"

Her body was yanked to the side of the ledge. "We're leaving!" The women shouted. She leaped off of the edge dragging Clarese with her. 

"No!" Clarese screamed as her body fell. 

"Clarese!" Twilight rushed to the edge, Wild ran with him, hoping against hope that they used some magic to survive the fall. There were no signs of either of them. 

Twilight roughly grabbed Wild's shoulder, lifting him up as he stood. "You are going to start explaining things right now." He growled.

\---

No one mentioned Clarese's absence when they caught up with the now two of them. Warriors was about to before Four swatted him in the arm. He caught Wild's eye and a strained smile was flashed his way. 

Ah, of course. 

Twilight said nothing throughout dinner. He watched the fire crackle with blank eyes. Barely taking notice of Time's hand on his shoulder. 

"You need to sleep." The old man instructed. 

"I can take first watch." Twilight said automatically. 

"No you're not." 

"Hey Time, how about you sleep, and I take the first watch with Twilight." Four suggested, hopefully Time would get the hint. 

Time glanced at him. "Alright."

Four sat next to Twilight, joining him in staring at the fire. 

Hours passed. 

. . . 

"Was I used?" Twilight said aloud. 

Four spared him a look. "No."

"Then what- what was this?"

"Tragic coincidence."

Twilight sucked in a breath. "You think so?"

"Yeah." Four gave a humorless laugh. "Hylia's fond of cruel jokes."

\---

Her back was slammed into hard sandstone. Clarese blinked away the sudden heat and dust surrounding her. She was in the desert.

"Clarese, baby." Suzuna, her beloved cousin, mumbled. Her hands on either of her shoulders. "Are you alright? Are you safe? Were you hurt?"

Clarese opened her mouth to speak, the heat invaded her mouth, drying up all she had to say. She suppressed her words. Still hyperventilating. 

"I'm sorry." She croaked. "I'm so sorry."

She was pulled into a tight hug. Her head cradled in Suzuna's arms. "Shh don't worry. Don't worry." She hushed. "You're with me now, you're safe."

Clarese felt tears slip down her face,  _ I'm not apologizing to you. _ She thought. All the same she embraced her back, letting herself cry openly. 

All too soon, everything was gone. Every thought she had ever had of staying with Twilight was gone. The possibilities of her future had shrunken down to one; go home.

"I loved him. I loved him I loved him I-" She choked on more tears. "I'm so sorry."

Suzuna had questions. She knew she did. But being the patient angel she was, she just pat Clarese on her back. Letting all her anger pour out. There were tears to be shed now, talking would come later. "Don't apologize dear. Just let it out."

Clarese sobbed. How pathetic she was now. 

These new clothes were too hot for the desert.

\---

For everyone else in the group, Twilight had to tell them before they figured it out.  _ He _ was the one that made the decision if they were going to know or not. 

What he was not expecting was Clarese seeing him once, figuring out he was Wolfie, then proceeded to poke fun at him for the rest of the walk back. 

At night, when everyone else had fallen asleep, she felt more comfortable snuggling close to Wolfie. "Is this why you wanted a big dog?" She hummed as she buried her head in his fur. "'s very comfy." She noted. "You make a nice wolf."

Twilight whined. He could not believe this. 

"Don't fuss. It's your fault thinking I wouldn't make the connection."

Clarese's arms were wrapped around him, wolf or human it felt really nice. Most nights he was too shy to show affection, and knowing that if anyone saw they would make fun of him till he died or clocked them in the jaw. Neither of which were good options. 

In a slow sizzle of black squares static electricity, It was Twilight, not Wolfie, who wrapped his arms around Clarese. 

"Aw, You were a nice wolf." She said, her voice more muffled now that it was buried in the fur around his shoulders. "Why'd you stop?"

"And make everyone think I got lost in the woods for a whole night?" He responded. "My status would be ruined."

"Hmmm, I see. Can't let anyone think you're the big mean wolf that only lets pretty ladies kiss him."

"You're making fun of me."

"I am not!" She protested softly. "See?" She gave him a quick kiss on the nose. "Would I do that if I were making fun of you?"

"Not sure. But I  _ do _ know that you definitely fall under the pretty lady category."

She kissed his nose again. "And you are now granted the title of women's best friend as well."

Twilight groaned. "Oh not the jokes."

"Yes, the jokes. Now I'm going to go to Sleep." She closed her eyes wrapping herself around him. "You should too."

"Planning on it."

“Go to sleep you two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last itty bitty part is just a part I really really wanted in there but it felt off place. So at the very end it goes! Call it a throwback or something. 
> 
> Last part is an epilogue! Watch out for that.


	5. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two months later. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Finally done!
> 
> I listened to "I dropped Out" by And the Kids on repeat while writing this. Go listen to it if you'd like. 
> 
> I draw Clarese a lot, but I've only posted it on my Instagram. So if you'd like a visual reference here's one https://www.instagram.com/p/CGX8kxLJfBu/ 
> 
> If I ever draw more references of her, I will link them here for you guys.

The Gerudo highlands were a chore to live in. In the daytime the sun burned too bright to leave your home, you covered every inch of your skin to stay away from it’s rays. At night however, it grew so cold that you had to wrap the children up and keep everyone sleeping in the same room lest they all freeze. 

You kept a heavy coat on your person at all times, and you never wear something that might show your skin, safety always took priority when it comes to the desert. A light colored turtleneck, a shawl around your shoulders and head, skirts or pants that reached your ankles, all clothing here had to be functional, and of course, the trademarked red. 

That’s what was so nice about Gerudo town and the Bazaar. They stayed relatively warm no matter the time of day. It must come with living in a desert, not the dry mountains. There was water in these outposts. Enough water to swim in. You could wear anything you wanted. The Gerudo certainly did. 

There was some gleam of joy in the fact that Clarese was able to wear, what felt like a bathing suit in all honesty. A jeweled white top covering her chest and arms, golden rings around her wrists, with a white skirt, a slit in the side allowing for easy walking. Her midriff exposed to the cool wind whistling around the town, a silver circlet atop her head. Nights were still cold, but there were fires and enough people in the town to keep it warm. 

She didn’t live there, not yet at least. It was her goal to save up enough to buy a small corner to call her own, spend the years there until she found something worth her time. 

At the moment she stayed at the jewelers shop. She had approached the women there asking if it were possible to apprentice herself. She had a few skills she had learned from watching her father, but certainly not enough to try and make anything herself without supervision. Isha and Cara, the shop owners, had agreed to let her stay. She was constantly running around to get them things they needed. Food from the market, ore from out of town, coal, the occasional trip to the bazaar. In turn she was given the opportunity to watch them, and try her own hand at sanding gems and melting ore. 

The market shined at night. Women from all over Hyrule gathered in small groups around the fires or the mats covered in goods. Clarese waved to the lady that ran the clothing shop. She had kindly given her her first real set of Gerudo silk clothing. Clarese did pay for some, but she had insisted on giving it a hefty discount. _“You’re wearing dark red cotton dear, you are going to fall over any minute.”_ Clarese had tried to argue, but she was persistent in her kindness. She had pointed Clarese to the jewelers and sent her on her way with a cup of water. 

That had happened a month ago. 

A few weeks before that however, is when she had gone home. Suzuna had led her away, with a snap of her fingers they had gone from the dueling peaks mountains to the gerudo highlands. Clarese would never again doubt her cousin’s magical prowess. 

Mother had greeted her with a tight lipped smile, her nephews, aunts, uncles, and other cousins, those who had no idea where she had been, or why she was back, were ecstatic to see her again. 

Her father hadn’t noticed she had left. Clarese was glad to know that some things never changed. He had greeted her with a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. _“How have you been Clare?”_

_“Never better father.”_

That was a lie, obviously. 

She was stuck in a rut. She could, in no good faith, try and chase after the hero (Wild), and she couldn’t bring herself to throw her attention to resurrecting Calamity Ganon. “ _it harms the land, it’s not natural, it kills more than it brings back.”_

Not after questioning her entire purpose. Not after almost deserting. She couldn’t be a good soldier anymore. 

She had stared at a wall. Suzuna had told her. Staring for hours without responding to anything around her. 

Suzuna was a blessing. She had never brought up what she had seen. Never mentioned it. Not to her, not to mother, no one.

All she did was lay a hand on Clarese’s shoulder one night. “I think you should leave.”

That had broken Clarese out of her trance. “Why?” 

“You’re not happy here.” _Had she ever been?_

“Where would I go?”

Suzuna shrugged, a warm welcoming smile on her face. “You need to explore more, I think. Did you ever stop by Rito village?”

“The cold would kill me.”

“See? You saw some of the north and east of hyrule, but did you see the ocean? Maybe a beach?”

Clarese bit her lip, “I don’t want to travel. Not alone.”

“Then go somewhere and stay for a bit. You look miserable here.”

She was about to object, about to state a reason why she should stay, why it would be better for her to stay home, to not leave. But none came to her mind. 

“See? If you go tonight I can make sure that no one will be around to see.”

“And be known as a deserter?” Clarese shot back, finally thinking of one good reason to stay. 

“You know I would rather die than have your name be soiled.”

“What then? Have my mother believe that I tried to escape and-” She couldn’t say it. “You know.”

“I think your mother knows you well enough to think you wouldn’t go running off to kill the hero. No, you’ll be leaving to see what you can do to harness your magic.”

“Really?”

She shrugged. “Well whatever you do do is your own business. But everyone here knows you struggle with it. You leaving to try and get stronger makes sense. No one would question it.”

No, no one really would.

That night Clarese had packed her things, and ran as fast as she could out of the mountains. The cold air bit her cheeks and blew through her clothes, but her destination was anywhere but the mountains. 

She had gotten a horse, rode it till she reached Lake Hylia. She had always wanted to see it in person. It wasn’t an ocean but she stared at it in awe anyway. So much water in one spot, a giant bridge crossing it. Clarese walked up and down it several times. Feeling the cobblestone with her hands, inhaling the smell of the lake, greeting the few travelers that passed her. 

Not travelling alone, just sightseeing. 

It was there she decided to go back to the desert. Not home, not home for a long time. But she had fond memories of the bazaar and the small pond there. She was built for warmer climates anyway. 

So here she was. A month and a half later, standing in the market of Gerudo Town. Much happier with her situation. 

The only time she ever looked back, and when she said back she wasn’t thinking about the mountains. Was at night. 

She would try and fall asleep, images of green forests and small fires invading her mind. Of quiet conversations and a white horse that loved to cause trouble. A bright smile and sharp canines. Sandy brown hair and black inked markings. His warm hands, and his blue eyes on her. 

And she would feel regret. 

Why did everything have to go wrong?

Well he hated her now anyway. There wasn’t anything she could do about that. 

\---

Twilight had felt stupid. Really stupid. 

He was the biggest fool in any Hyrule at any given point in the timeline. 

He hadn’t been the one to break the news to the group. That had been Wild. Wild had done it in the most delicate way possible, making it sound like such a big coincidence and that no one had even known, not even him! But now Clarese was gone and no one should go looking for her. 

He told them about the Yiga, footsoldiers, blademasters, their magic and weapons, how to tell if a traveler was one. Why it was no one fault that this ‘accident’ even happened.

Strangely enough, no one had poked fun at him for it. That much Twilight could be grateful for. Wind pouted for a while, Warriors patted him on the back and wished him luck, Legend said nothing, and Time shook his head. Somehow that hurt more than any mockery. 

Twilight had unknowingly almost gotten Wild killed. 

Wild hadn’t told him that part, Four did. 

“I think the whole reason she didn’t was because Wild convinced her not to.” Four mused one night, far away from everyone else. “I wasn’t there there, but if you asked Wild I’m sure he’d tell you about it.”

Twilight had asked him to stop talking. 

Kakariko was a lovely place. Meeting Wild’s princess was fun, she was a very smart young lady. Impa was older than anyone expected, but she had given them all a room upstairs. 

Everyone had bright white hair, wore white, had knives on their thighs and welcomed them with open arms. It was a welcome change from the ground and bedrolls. Having someone else cook for them was a weight off of Wild’s shoulders. 

The crying eye symbol everywhere was off putting. It was white, like everything else, and it was plastered on every banner, door, article of clothing, hat. You would think for a people descended from secrets, they would be a bit more secretive. 

“We don’t travel much.” That had been the explanation. 

When asked why, the old Shiekah women Twilight had questions paused. “We try to keep this place a secret from those who wish to do us harm. Others can come in, but there is safety in numbers here.”

They had asked Princess Zelda if she knew of some reason they would be put in this specific Hyrule. Were there monster problems? Had someone important died? The answer was a resounding no. There was no visible reason they were here.

Wild has suggested traveling around with his slate, fast travel to anywhere in Hyrule, see if he could pick anything up on his own. Almost everyone had shot down that idea. 

“I could take someone with me?” He argued. “You all know I’m safe in my own damn Hyrule.”

“We’re not splitting up. End of story.” 

Either way, none of it really mattered. Because two days later a giant purple gateway had shown up in the middle of the village. Legend had to fend off the little kids that tried to climb in, or the curious adults who wanted to touch it. 

It led to Wind’s Hyrule. To Outset island more like. Wind had assured them that the actual Kingdom of Hyrule lay deep beneath the vast ocean.

Walking out of Kakariko, out of Wild’s hyrule, it felt wrong. Twilight would admit that he did look back. He’d rather be here. 

But now the tropical heat thickened the air. Sand got in his boots and the fur on his coat. He was lying sprawled on the beach, the others dusting themselves off around him. He took a deep breath. Everything was going to be fine. 

“Welcome everyone! To the Tropics!” Wind shouted.   
  
Legend covered his ears. “Keep it down will you?”

“Are you kidding me? You guys haven’t been here yet! You should be ecstatic!”  
  
Legend swatted at a bug. “Trust me, I’m thrilled.” 

Getting to Wind’s house was easy. The sister they had heard too much about was overjoyed when nine men showed up at her house. “Finally I don’t have to do all the chores.” She huffed once Wind had pried her from his arms.

Wind made a face. “Don’t get too comfy you twerp.”  
  
It was comforting to see the sailor so happy. He deserved it. 

All Twilight could do was stare at the sand, thinking to himself that this wasn’t the desert. Had Clarese gone back to the desert? Hylia, he needed to stop doing this to himself. This all reminded him of when Midna- No, now was definitely not the time to think about that. Twilight glowered at the sand. Dumb sand. 

She probably hated him anyway.

\---

Despite being her safe haven, Gerudo town was still tiring and hard to navigate in the middle of summer. High noon was upon the bustling market, the amount of bodies in the crowds did nothing to slow the heat pouring over all of them. Three months was not long enough for her to get used to this. You couldn’t get used to this.

Clarese wiped her forehead. Grimacing at the amount of sweat her sleeve pulled away. ‘I’m going to have to wash the clothes tonight.’ She thought. Isha and Cara worked her hard for her stay, but their hospitality was unmatched. 

Clarese balanced the jug at her hip. She had just come from the well, at the moment considering dumping the water on herself and going back to get more. The thought was tempting for sure. But she was wearing white. So she didn’t. 

With her free hand she pushed her way forward, steadying herself as she moved. Clarese had only broken one jug so far, and she was not eager to do so again. Some of the water sloshed out of the jug, spilling over her feet. It was as welcome as it was annoying. Now sand was going to get caked on her feet. 

Her attention was caught by a hand waving in front of her. 

“Clarese! Darling!” It was Jules, a Hylian woman who was staying in Gerudo town just like her. She had insisted on making friends with the newcomer and ‘other hylian girly’ -her words not Clarese’s. 

Clarese put on a smile. Jules was kind enough, she just didn’t know when a conversation was over. “Good afternoon Jules.”

Jules waltzed over to her, her hands behind her back. “How's life? It’s been so long since I've seen you darling. It feels like years.”

Clarese vividly recalled being trapped in a long conversation with her yesterday. “Has it? I guess I’ve just been so busy.”

“Oh you poor thing.” Jules pouted. “Are they working you dead over there? You at least get a discount right?”

She gave a forced laugh. “No, not at all. I’m happy to do the work. I get paid some, and I get to learn the trade as well. No discount, I get to make my own jewelry.” She knew better than to purposefully carry a conversation with her, but Clarese hadn’t shown anyone else yet and it was getting to her. 

“Look at this.” With her free hand she pointed to her exposed ear. “I made these earrings yesterday. Isha pierced the new holes for me.” Three small golden hoops sat on her earlobe, a jeweled stud in her cartilage. 

“They’re lovely!” Jules gasped. “Do they still sting?”

“A little, but I have cold water to help.” Clarese smiled. “Since it’s real ruby, I can walk around without getting cold more often. It really helps later in the day.”

“Amazing.” Jules remarked. “All that magic packed into a small jewel. You all must be so gifted in there.” She motioned to her head. 

Clarese laughed again. “Yes. I’m very lucky.” 

She stood there and chatted for a little while longer, finally excusing herself when the water jug grew too heavy and her arm screamed at her to get a move on.

The shade of the shop’s open balcony was a blessing. Clarese sighed in relief as she set the water down outside the door. It was to be used for keeping the iron cool, but that was around back and Clarese needed to grab the rags for the iron from the front room. 

Pushing back the rug curtain, Clarese crept inside. “Cara! Isha! I’m back!” She called.

“Hush!“ Cara barked at her from the back. “Isha is with a customer.” 

“A customer?” Clarese glanced around. The jeweled sets and displays lay around the main room, Isha and a Hylian girl were staring at her from across the room, where the sandstone couches sat. 

“So sorry.” She mouthed. “I just need to grab the rags.”

Isha rolled her eyes. “So abrasive. Go get your work done.”

Clarese nodded then quickly bowed to the customer. “Lovely to make your acquaintance.” Before she quickly moved to the back. 

Cara poked her in the side as soon as she saw her. Clarese squeaked and slapped her hand away. 

“That’s no ordinary customer back there.” Cara teased. “That’s the girl that helped us get back on our feet.”

Clarese vaguely recalled hearing about that. That was her? 

“Don’t make a fool out yourself.”

Clarese scrunched her nose. “Since when have I done that?” She opened the third drawer next to the door, snatching the stained rags and a few brushes. She snuck to the main room and tried to slide away unnoticed. 

“Clarese! Come meet our guest!” Isha greeted her as soon as she opened the door. The two were still sitting down, the blonde hylian woman sat stiff in her seat, watching Clarese as if she were about to pounce on them.

Clarese stared, puzzled at her attitude. A thought struck her. _Did she know who Clarese was?_ Or, who she had been at least. 

Clarese hesitantly took a few steps forward, bowing lightly to her again. “Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Clarese. I work here as an apprentice.”

Isha nodded approvingly. “Clarese this is Liah. I’m sure Cara told you she was the one that helped this shop back before the calamity was defeated.”

“Yes she did.” 

“Liah, this is Clarese, she’s part of the family. Treat her nice.”

Liah gave a smile, or maybe she didn’t. She wore a green veil covering the lower half of her face. 

Isha waved Clarese away. “Now go take the water back girl. I want that iron as clean as a whistle when you’re done with it.”

“Yes Isha. I’ll make it sparkle.”

“Good girl.”

Clarese was finally able to slip away. Hylia that had been strange. Hopefully if Liah recognized her as a(n ex?) member of the Yiga clan, Clarese would be able to explain herself. Yiga weren’t taken kindly to. Not after the thunderhelm was stolen. 

Behind the building was the forge. There were the irons, the stoves, the fires, and barrels full of resources. Cups of jewels sat in one of them, away from sight. 

Pushing her anxieties aside she sat on one of the padded stools and began to work. Getting the grease off this thing would be a pain, but hey, what could she do?

An hour into her work, Clarese felt a tap on her shoulder. Cara did that a lot to get her attention. She turned to see, not Clara, but Liah. 

“May I help you?” 

“I’d like to talk to you.” Liah responded in a low whisper. 

Clarses glanced around, there was no one else here. She stood up. “Alright, I’m all ears.” There was a bubbling pot of anxiety in her stomach. It wasn’t doing her any favors at the moment.

“Alone.”

The pot boiled. Clarese had to work to keep her smile bright. “Where then?”

Liah looked behind her. “Outside.”  
  
“Outside the forge?”

“Of town.”

Clarese took a careful step back. “What do you want from me?”

Liah grabbed her hand, lightly pulling on her. 

“Hey!”

“Now.”

Too scared to cause a scene, and against her better judgement, Clarese decided to let the woman pull her to the west gate. The west gate had no guards Clarese noted with fear. Oh hylia this was it wasn’t it. Her life as she knew it was going to end here. Her cover would be blown (again) and Clarese would have to run.

Once outside the gates, Liah kept walking. Clarese followed, too nervous to object.

Liah finally stopped as they were out of sight from town. Almost two sand dunes between them and the village. Clarese started reciting in her mind the ways of teleportation. Her limit of a hundred feet wasn’t much, but it would give her a head start to run.

“Do you promise not to run?” Liah said. Still speaking in a very low whisper. 

Clarese didn't answer the question. “What do you want from me.” She repeated.

Liah sighed. “Maybe it’s easier to show you.” And she- no wait- _he_ took off the veil.

Clarese couldn’t believe her eyes. 

“There’s no fucking way.” She breathed.

  
  
Wild gave her a weak smile. “Surprise?”

\---

After three months. Three months of travelling other Hyrules and helping town after city, even stopping by the ranch once, had a portal finally opened up and shoved them back into Wild’s Hyrule. Even better, the desert.

Ok maybe the desert isn't the best place to be thrown unprepared. Time had almost cooked alive last time they were here. But Wild was trying really hard to hide how excited he was. 

Because the desert meant Yiga. 

It was a weird thing to be excited about, sure. But Wild had had enough of Twilight staring out and not recognizing any of their voices. Twilight was having a bad time in general. He laughed with the rest of them, and gladly did his hero’s duty, but for the love of Hylia was he really good at pining. He was truly gifted in it.

So hopefully finding Yiga meant finding Clarese, which meant hopefully reaching an understanding between the two, and magically curing Twilight's heartbreak. 

What he had not been expecting was successfully finding her in his first solo trip to Gerudo town of all places.

Clarese stared at him, mouth agape, words lost to her. Then she slapped him. Hard.

It caught him off guard, "Long time no see?" He tried again. Holy _shit_ she hit hard.

"You-"

"Make a pretty convincing girl, I know."

"Where are the others?" She asked. The 'where's Twilight' was left unsaid. 

"Kara Kara Bazaar. I came here alone."

Clarese didn't speak, too busy glaring at him.

"What have you been up to? Jewelry making huh?"

Clarese furrowed her brow. "Currently trying my best to move on from being an outcast."

"An outcast? You mean . . ." He trailed off. 

"I'm not with them anymore. Not in that sense." She sighed. "I'm still Yiga because it's a race of people, but I'm no longer affiliated with them."

If this got any better, Wild would explode. It took every ounce of his willpower not to pick her up and bring her to the bazaar. 

"That's- That's- Wait is that a good thing for you or?"

Clarese shook her head. "Technically my family thinks I'm on educational leave. Working on my magic and all that. But I have no intention of ever going back, at least, not for a long time."

"So a good thing then."

Clarese raised an eyebrow. "You really have no tact."

"It's not my job."

"Well, nice seeing you again." She said. "I'll see you later, whenever you stop by the shop I guess." Clarese started to climb her way up the dunes. 

"Wait! You're not coming with me?"

Clarese turned to him. "No? Why would I?"

"Well I was thinking you'd want to see Twilight-"

"Twilight hates me." She interrupted him. "I tried to kill you."

"I didn't mind." He murmured under his breath. 

"What'd you say?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Nevermind. I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah, bye."

As soon as she left, Wild punched the air in triumph. Victory!

Running back to the Bazaar was the best feeling ever. Oh he was going to _love_ telling everyone.

\---

Wild burst through the proverbial door of the bazaar. The group, who was not staying in the Inn, but instead had bought a giant tent to camp under, all looked at him. They all sat in various states of undress. Mostly all of them in undershirts and pants. 

"Everyone! You will not believe what just happened." His heart was going at happy miles per hour, breathing heavily from his run. 

Warriors raised an eyebrow. "Ganon's back?"

"You got caught and banned from Gerudo town forever?" Hyrule guessed.

"Even better." Wild huffed. 

"Don't keep us waiting." Twilight mused. "What's the news?" 

"Oh you would really like this news Twilight." He waited for a dramatic pause. "Guess who I met in Gerudo town? At the jewelers shop?"

Twilight shrugged, perturbed at Wild's vagueness. "I don't know, Epona?"

"Clarese."

If Twilight was eating something, he was sure he would have choked on it just now.

Everyone shared their various exclamations of shock. Four coughed into his arm, Wind's eyes widened, his fists tightening. Time raised an eyebrow. A quiet "Oh for fuck's sake." Came from Legend.

"Did she try to kill you?" Asked Hyrule.

"Hyrule!" Snapped Sky. 

"What?"

Twilight composed himself. "That's nice."

"Right? She's an apprentice to the jewelers." Wild was vibrating. 

"I don't see what that has to do with me." Twilight was trying really hard not to show any emotion on his face.

"Well one, she didn't try to kill me. Two, I talked to her. Face to face, mano a mano."

"And?" Warriors prompted.

"She's doing good for herself! She's not well, you know, out to get me anymore."

Four nodded, impressed. "Good for her."

"Right?"

"I still don't see what this has to do with me." Twilight interjected.

Wild rolled his eyes. "There is no way you are this dense dude."

"What?"

Wild sighed. "Why did the two of you break up?"

"Because someone tried to kill you?"

"And if there was no one trying to kill me anymore would you?" He pushed.

"Would I what?"

Wild slapped his forehead. "You're ex that you still have feelings for is less than a mile away, and all the aforementioned deal breakers are no longer in the picture. Please don't make me force you."

Twilight stared at him speechless. "I don't still have feelings-"

"Oh don't you start." It was surprisingly Legend who interrupted him. 

"Legend-" Twilight tried to stop him but he kept talking.

"It's been three months of you being off kilter, it's almost sad. I am sad looking at you Twilight. Take a hint and at least talk to her."

"I- I'm not having this conversation right now." Twilight stated. He stood up and grabbed his sword. "I'm going to stab a few stal-lizalfos if none of you mind."

"Oh no, go ahead." Legend folded his arms. "Talk to her later, totally won't blow up in your face."

Twilight hardened his features. Not a word later he stalked away from the rest. 

Wind, confused, watched him go. "This is good news, right?"

Wild collapsed, putting his head in his hands. "It was supposed to be."

"Give him an hour." Legend suggested. "I'll talk to him later."

\---

"Hey Twilight!" Legend drawled, watching as off in the distance the farmboy stomped on the skeletons of skeleton monsters. The sand was fucking everywhere, clouding his vision somewhat.

Twilight took notice of him, sheathing his sword he made his way over. "What do you want."

Legend shrugged, "Hey don't get an attitude with me, I'm just checking to make sure you're alive."

Twilight held his arms open, "Well as you can see, I am not dead."

"Thanks, I'll let Time know." Legend didn't move. Twilight didn't either. 

"Are you going or . . ?"

"So about your girlfriend."

"Goddammit." Twilight cursed. "Can you just leave me alone?"

Legend snickered. "And let you make what might be the worst mistake of your laugh? No way."

"Worst mistake? You've been so cryptic lately." Twilight stopped. "Is this about that girl you-"

"One thing I am not here to do Twilight, is talk about _my_ love life Twilight." Legend deadpanned. "This is a one man intervention and I'm the sorry leader."

"What, are you going to drag me to someone who hates my guts and force us to make up?"

Legend grunted. "She hates you? That's a new one."

Twilight scowled. "I'm not going."

Legend felt the urge to slap his own face. "Twilight for the love of the master sword and all the devotion Sky carries it with. Hylia has literally put you in the most perfect spot in any timeline ever to make amends and end your insufferable pining. And you are trying to run away from this."

"I'm not pining."

"Right, and I'm straight." Legend rolled his eyes. "Just look back at yourself and honestly tell me you don't want to talk to her one last time. What if tomorrow she gets killed for being a traitor to her clan? Or she just drops from heart failure, or a new guy waltzes in and steals her heart."

Twilight scoffed. "You're making extreme cases here."

"Am I? Am I really?" Legend twisted around. "Well I'm not. And I'm going back."

"Goodbye."

"Whatever."

\---

Ok fine. What if Twilight's heart was still recovering. What if Hypothetically, he would give anything to talk to Clarese again. A chance to listen to her, to see where it all went wrong. To tell her everything about him and their group. That he didn't ever leave her on purpose and that- and that-

That he was scared. There, he said it.

Scared that everything would go wrong again. 

He had felt a sick sense of relief when they had left. She was from a different Timeline, it the back of his mind he had a vague idea that this would never work out. Not only was he from the literal past, and hundreds of years dead in this Hyrule, but he was currently on the band of Hylia's slingshot as she played a game of Hit the Dark Link. Like a pinball they were spun around the worlds and timelines. 

Of course it had to end. Why try to fix shattered glass? It could never work. 

His stomach turned as he trekked back to the bazaar. Clarese was an idea off in the distance. Idealistic and perfect and too perfect to ever happen and he was doomed to love what he could never really have. 

If it were possible however, maybe he would get Wild to deliver a letter.

\---

The sun was lower in the sky now, the breeze grew colder around her. The red gem gave her a warm indifference to the cold. Too bad she was burning up inside. 

Clarese pushed the rug back for the second time that day. “I’m back.” She called, this time with much less enthusiasm. Her face felt hot, so did her hands and neck. Was she blushing? Were these nerves? For what?

Twilight. Her mind supplied. He’s only two miles away. 

And he also hated her. She argued. Wild was strange, he forgave too easily, Twilight wouldn’t. 

You don’t know that.  
  
Which was why she was making an educated guess. 

“Evening.” Isha greeted her. She moved around the stands, cleaning the jewelry that had collected dust throughout the day. “How was your time with Liah?”

Isha had known? ”Oh, it was alright.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Things.” Clarese cringed at her vagueness. 

Before Isha could ask for clarification she slunk away, to the back room and up the steps to her small bedroom. It had previously been an extra storage room for the forge, but Clarese had since cleaned it out. It had a well worn bed, a low table covered in gadgets and pieces of metalwork, spare projects of hers she had started and left overtime. A chest at the far end where she kept her things. Her red jumpsuit and circular blades were hidden underneath the bed. 

A thin window stretched across the length of the room, accented by sheer curtains on either side. It stood too high to look through unless you stood on top of the bed. The walls were patterned with the traditional Gerudo colors and decor. 

Clarese collapsed on the bed, grabbing the blanket and hugging it. She would just sleep. She would sleep and all of this would be a dream, and Wild would be gone, and Twilight would stop invading her head and all of this would be fine and- there was a knock at her door. 

“I’m coming in.” Warned Cara before she opened the door. She took sight of Clarese still in her day clothes strewn across the bed. “You look like you had a fun trip out.” 

Clarese groaned into the blanket. 

Cara let out a soft laugh. “It’s hardly even six at night, what are you doing up here?” She situated herself at the foot of the bed. “Is something wrong?”

Clarese pulled the blanket away from her face. “Men.” She muttered bitterly.

Gasping, Cara grabbed her ankle. "Clarese you are telling me everything at once."

"Do I have to?"

"If you want steamed mushrooms for tomorrow's dinner you will."

Clarese glared at her. Food as leverage, how dare she. She sighed, "I used to date Liah's brother."

"You what? How long ago?"

"We broke up and I pretty much went to Gerudo Town."

"What happened?" She paused. "I don't need to have a talk with Liah about her brother's behavior do I?"

"Oh, No!" Clarese objected. "Nothing like that. Not at all. I just- We ended on a bad note. I thought I told him important things about myself, I lied on accident, it blew up in my face."

Cara softened, "Oh dear, that's terrible. Are you still hurt?"

Clarese snorted, "Not really. I just-"

"Miss him?"

"No!" She caught a glance of Cara's raised eyebrow. "Yes." She muttered. 

Cara smiled. "Then with Liah here, now would be a good time to talk to him no? I'm sure you could work things out."

"Work things out? I haven't seen him in a few months, not to mention he might still hate me."

"Oh dear, I don't think anyone could hate you. Not with that smile of yours." 

Clarese dug her head back into the blanket. "Yeah sure."

\---

Now it felt strange to walk around town, knowing that at any moment Wild could pop up and blackmail her into talking to him. Not that she hated him, not anymore at least. But it was something she now had to be cautious about. Another thing to be on the lookout for. She'd avoid blonde Hylians for now.

For a week she carefully watched her surroundings. Waiting for the moment Wild would tap on her shoulder and drag her outside to talk about whatever the boy wanted to talk about. 

He was a boy after all. Clarese was easily three years older than him, he was barely an adult, not even eighteen. She was astounded that this kid was able to kill calamity ganon _rest be his name._ It was utterly baffling.

The intrusion she was waiting for didn't catch her off guard thankfully. Clarese had been making an at home delivery to a customer when she spotted a Hylian girl in blue with long blonde hair and trailed her until they both stopping in a corner of an alleyway. 

"Wild?" She asked carefully.

Wild flashed her a peace sign. "Good to see you to Cici."

_Cici? That was new_. "Hi? What brings you here now?"

"Oh you know, shopping, sightseeing, catching up with old friends, a letter from Twilight." He grinned, holding up a yellow paper letter in his hands.

Clarese studied the letter. "Give it." 

Twilight held the letter above his head. "Only if you actually do what the letter asks."

Clarese tried to grab it from his hands, snarling as Wild jumped. "Fine."

"Ok, here you go." He gracefully handed her the letter to Clarese. Who took it from him gingerly and began to read the contents. 

_Dear_ ~~_Clare_ ~~ _\- (Can I still use that?) Clarese,_

_I messed up. You messed up. There was some communication errors, as Four puts it. And I didn't get a chance to listen to you, or even say goodbye. Wild and Four have told me a lot, and I'm kinda shocked that I didn't put it together myself. You even told me but I still didn't get it. I was dumb and it's my fault that it ended up like this. I'd like to explain myself to you for at least a bit. I don't hate you, I actually really don't hate you. It's taking me a while to actually write this because I'm scared_ ~~_I'm going to mess this all up._ ~~ _I'm not going to be able to fix this._

~~_Could I see you again?_ ~~ _If you would see me one more time, and give me some time to talk, that'd be great._

~~_Lov_ ~~ _Sincerely, Twilight._

Her face was hot. Her arms felt icky again. Clarese wanted to crawl into a corner and melt away and pretend this never happened. She read the letter again, and once more for good measure. 

She glimpsed Wild's waiting face. He had an eyebrow raised, his foot tapping the sandy stone. "Your response?" 

She sighed. "Where would we meet up?"

Wild grinned. He was going to feel so guilty when Twilight learned that he tampered with the letter.

Oh the letter was real alright. When Twilight brought up the idea Wild had practically forced him to write it then and there. It was like pulling teeth trying to get him to finish it though. Twilight had gone through several sheets of paper and a lot of pencils. When a week later he had finally brought the finished letter to Wild, the teen had almost cried. 

It was heartfelt at the beginning. But with every sentence more it read like a business calling card. Something that Wild would get in the mail when he bought from a shady place that asked his address. 

Wild had asked if Legend could possibly forge a few lines. The veteran had happily agreed. 

And so a meetup was planned between the two.

\---

"Protection? In Gerudo Town?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at Wild who stood in front of him like a child asking for candy.

"C'mon Twilight. This is less about protecting me, and more like, well have you ever been to Gerudo town? Don't you want to see what it's like?"

Twilight opened his mouth. "I'm a guy Wild."

"Well I have some spare-"

"I'm also not a twink." 

Wild frowned. He had an Idea. "There are rules on guys, but what there aren't any on wolves!" He declared triumphantly. 

"Wild- not to be rude. But that entire letter was sent to avoid Gerudo Town?"

"Fine, we don't even have to go in. But you _need_ to at least see it in real life. You don't even have the Gerudo Town in your Hyrule. You're right next to an entire race of people you've only heard about. You can't tell me you're not the slightest bit curious?"

Twilight considered it carefully.

"Please?" Wild pleaded. "For me?"

"Fine." He grunted. "But wolf only."

"Yes!"

So Twilight was set to be there. There was the outer wall behind the Town. It's where a well stood, There was plenty of water in the town, but they got busy at times, so one was made out here for male travelers and others on their way out. 

Clarese, while not ecstatic, had fully agreed to meet Wild there. 

The rest of the group. Time and Hyrule and Sky and everyone else, had agreed to leave the desert. Go to the forest and around the great plateau . Maybe even stop by it, who knew.

Wild and Twilight were to go to Gerudo town, then contact wind and fast travel. It was a perfect plan. If things went bad for them, Wild had a perfect escape plan.

Watched Wild and Twilight walk away from the bazaar, Legend spared a glance at Warriors and Time. "What are you two thinking about?" He questioned. "You're both unusually quiet about this."

"For once in my life, I'm appreciating the simplicity of my romantic endeavors." Warriors stated. 

Time quirked his mouth. "I've been happily married for almost nine years. I can give you boys advice on a lot of things, but I'm staying out of this one."

Legend nodded. "Good man."

\---

Clarese stared at her exactly four pairs of clothing. A wine red Yiga jumpsuit with all the decorations and leg warmers that came with it. Blue travelers clothes Wild have given her, which she was still _not_ giving back. Once white Gerudo clothing that had turned to a cream color over time, and pajamas. 

Well the pajamas were out of question. The traveler's clothes would burn her alive, and the jumpsuit would be a target on her back.

Ganon, why was she even thinking about this? This wasn't some special occasion she needed to dress up for. This was a simple goodbye and some well needed explanations.

She got dressed, her mind still mulling around ideas of how this could all go wrong. It could be an ambush, Wild trying to get back at her. It could be all of them there. She didn't think she would be able to explain her murderous tendencies to the likes of Sky and Hyrule. 

All the earrings went in their intended spots. She had gained a few more piercings over time. Perks of living in a jewelry shop she guessed. 

She sat on her bed, fully dressed in enough jewels and silk to convince anyone she had lived in this place her entire life. And she had almost three hours until they agreed to meet up. 

Damn nerves.

She tiptoed down the stairs. Isha saw her at the bottom. 

"Where's a girl like you dressed like that going?" She demanded. 

Clarese froze. "Into town?"

Isha pursed her lips. "You go into town everyday. Those are sapphires on those long ears of yours. You never wear blue."

"The milk bar?" She tried again. 

"Calm down darling!" Cara called from the other room. "Clarese here has a date with destiny."

Isha ran her eyes over her again. "I see. Does this have anything to do with Link?"

"Link? you mean Liah?" Clarese offered.

Isha smirked. "Everyone here knows who Link is. But he dresses as one of us, helps us, and respects the culture, so no one mentions it."

"What? You can tell?"

She clicked her tongue. "Have spent my entire life around women and this is what my own apprentice asks me. Yes I can tell."

"You-"

"Observe a lot more than you think." She fixed her eyes on Clarese. "Just like how you're on run from your family in the mountains."

Clarese's breath hitched. "I can explain-"

Isha waved her off. "I do not care. Like Liah I do not care. You are a good girl and learn fast. You stay as long as you'd like."

Clarese felt relief well up in her chest. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"One condition. I get to look at those bronze blades you keep under your bed. They interest me."

Clarese smiled. "Sounds good to me."

\---

The well was wet. Surprising he knew. 

Wild glanced around the area. He sat on the rim with Twilight at his side, in the shape of a large black and gray wolf, panting in the desert heat. 

"You want to shift back?" Wild asked. The wolf shook its head. "Stubborn lug."

Half an hour later, Wild heard a voice in his ear. It was Twilight's. 

"Why are we waiting here?" 

Wild gasped, "You're human!"

"Yes, to ask you why I've been forced into the open heat for so long. Is there a point to this?" Twilight wasn't wearing his green tunic, or even his chain mail. Just the beige tunic, trousers, and boots. Wild was so glad he had desert appropriate clothes. 

"Well." Wild tried to think of the best way to explain it. But he saw a white figure exit the back gate and stroll towards the two. "I might have done something you specifically asked me not to do."

Twilight's eyes followed what Wild was watching. "Wild." He said slowly. "I'm giving you a few seconds to fast travel away from here, before I make Ganon look like a mild mannered citizen."

Wild happily pulled out his slate. "And I do not need to be told twice." He disappeared in strands of blue just as Clarese approached them.

\---

They stared at each other for what, a few seconds? Minutes? Time was irrelevant. 

Clarese broke the silence. "You look like you're going to burn up." 

It took him a whole seven seconds to think of a response. "I just might." 

She flashed him a nervous smile. "Please don't. I think I'd be sad."

"Yeah, me too."

The silence dragged on. 

"So Wild told me enough." Twilight started. "You have a very interesting Family life." 

She bit her lip. "That's one way of putting it."

"Hows Gerudo life? You like it there?"

"It's nice. . . I preferred staying with you though."

"Oh." Twilight nodded. 

"Was the letter asking to meet up forged? I get the feeling you didn't initiate this."

"I uh, no. This was not part of the plan. The letter was my goodbye."

Clarese scrunched her nose. "Really?" There was a hint of humor in her tone. 

"Looking back it was pretty tacky of me. But I'm not sure how to talk to you, are we going to act like nothing happened?"

"No. But can we act like it doesn't matter right now?"

His gaze softened. She looked pretty in that dress. Gold and white and blue and all. Her hair was longer too. It was still black, but the months in the sun had lightened it to a dark shade of brown. She was tanner, a few freckles across her cheeks. 

"You look pretty." 

She met his eyes. Twilight was red in the face, his arms were always tan but he looked as if he was suffering the wrath of the sun's power. His hair was damp with sweat, he wasn't used to the heat. 

"You look like a mess." She replied.

"I know."

"Can I kiss you?"

"Please."

  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


"Aww." Cooed Clarese as she picked up yet another one of Twilight's stuffed animals. "This is so cute."

Twilight grabbed mister honk the goose away from her. "Don't touch the merchandise." He warned.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm in a treehouse Link. Not a museum."

"Yeah, my treehouse." 

"You grew up in a treehouse." She pointed outside the window to where the trees shielded most of the light. "We are in a forest." 

"Your point is?"

She shook her head, trying to hide her smile. "Nothing. It just makes sense." 

"What do you mean it makes sense?"

She started to make her way to the door. "I'm going to go to the village."

"Wh-" Twilight spluttered. "Hold on, no. You don't get to-"

"Bye!" She waved as she walked along the trail to Ordon Village. "I'll see you at dinner!"

Twilight sighed, He had lost the battle. "Fine! See you later."

"Love you!"

Twilight grinned. "Love you too!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if this is the end, then what is the 6th chapter for?
> 
> Well lucky for you guys is that I wrote a lot of this story in snippets before I put it to a fic. Meaning there is a lot of content that got extremely changed as time went on. (Clarese was names Claire, and was an absolute muder hobo. Twilight was willfuly ignorant, Wild and Twilgiht got into screaming matches, Alternate ways Clarese's secret got put out.) I wanted to share it with you guys, and I seriously considered putting it here, but there is no way I could even fit it in here with the word limit. 
> 
> But hopefully you guys will enjoy them. So until next time!


	6. snippets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little explanation: 
> 
> When I started this fic, I just kinda sat down and wrote whatever I wanted. I knew i wanted a few things to happen, like an epic reveal, Wild to be suspicious, and a few other things to happen. 
> 
> But seeing that stories change as they go on, I really couldn't find a way to fit these scenes in the fic. Or the characters didn't fit, or names changed, and other stuff.
> 
> This is NOT a continuation, these were just too good to not post.

This would have taken place somewhere in the 1st or 3rd chapter. In a universe where Wild didn't give a fuck and Twilight was dumb.

\---

“She is practically my arch nemesis.”

“Arch nemesis? You don’t even know her.” Twilight yelled. “Isn’t it Ganon? The great King of evil?”

“Not since I killed him!”

“Not since you killed him.” Twilight slapped a hand over his eyes. “Now my girlfriend is your worst enemy.”

“She’s  _ Yiga _ !” 

Twilight sighed. “She’s just trying to get back at the guy that killed her dad! Leave her be.”

“That was me! I killed her dad!”

“You  _ what! _ ”

“No! Not like what you’re thinking. Her parents tried to kill me-”

“Why would they do that?”

“Because they’re Yiga Twilight. Yiga keep trying to  _ kill me. _ ”

“You keep saying Yiga like I know what it means!”

“Oh my god.”

* * *

This was an alternate version of Clarese's POV. One where their parting was a bit more solemn, and angry?

\---

Clarese was walking a fine line. She had promised her mother that she would return home safely, she had promised herself that she would avenge her cousin. That when she saw the Hero she would make him regret ever picking up a sword. 

What had happened to her?

Her lips tightened into a sad smile. 

Twilight had happened. 

Twilight, the hero's own brother had saved her, held onto her, let her know that he really did care for her, even if he didn’t know who she really was. 

She had tried to tell him. She thought he loved all of her. Who hadn’t heard of the desert wanderers who drank blood and wanted the rise of an evil king. Not that she in particular did or wanted to do any of those things, it was ingrained in her like breathing. 

She thought he knew. 

If only Twilight had been angry with her. If he had launched himself at her, screaming and yelling, trying to kill her or something. She would have liked that more than seeing the disappointment and realization in his eyes. How he looked at her with horror. 

_ “Go. Just go. Leave.”  _

He hugged her knees. She wanted to go back. She wanted to go back to where she never met Twilight. When all she needed was information about the hero and a place to sleep for the night. 

She wanted to go back to when he would look at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. 

Ganon, she was so pathetic. 

Clarese pretended not to notice the tears slipping down her face as the wagon bumped and jostled. Right now she was going to feel the cold night wind on her face, and be home in a week, hopefully in time for dinner. 

* * *

So this is REALLY similar to the scene in chapter 4. The idea was that Wild and Clarese would talk to each other, but in this version they reached a bit TOO much of an understanding. Clarese had to many hot takes, too many so that she would not have acted in ways she needed to in later chapters. 

\---

Wild as ever persistent as he was, asked if he could talk with her one more time. They were in the mountains now. Just a day's journey away from Kakariko. They were both far away from the group, almost half a mile. 

Clarese's patience was short. What did he want now?

"Sorry to pull you aside like this. I know Four's done it at least one and-"

"Cut to the point." 

Wild cringed, his shoulders hiking. "Clarese, I just want to say I'm sorry."

Her face dropped. "What?"

"I know this sounds hollow, and that I might not really mean it at all. But I'm sorry. I've done a lot to destroy your clan, and while I still think what you guys are doing is wrong, and I already know we disagree on almost everything, politics, whether or not Ganon is a force for good or evil, or both. But it doesn't matter right now because I've hurt you. And Twilight's partner or not, I've done a lot of questionable things in self defense."

What the hell was he playing at? "You-" 

"Please wait until I'm done." Wild asked. He had been holding himself tight, clenching his fists. "It's hard to say, especially after knowing your side. but I still think that what I did was right, at least in the end. I did it to protect myself and the people I loved. I'm sorry that the people you loved had to be involved."

"Adeline." She said. It was all she could say. "Her name was Adeline. She was eighteen and good at magic. Better than I am. She could move things with the smallest charms. She was my little sister. My baby sister."

Wild said nothing, he kept his eyes firmly on her, making sure not to draw his attention elsewhere. 

"Her best friend was dead set on killing you for the honor involved in the deed. He was going to do it. He was still in straining and snuck out late so he could leave and find you and kill you. I don't expect you to remember him, I know how many of us you run into, but he lost the fight."

She paused to take a deep breath. "Adeline was enraged. She almost went mad. My last memories of her were when she would pace around the room. She would force herself to the breaking point in magic. She was going to kill you even if it killed her. It was so terrible to be around her, I spent more time away from her. More time exploring the surrounding areas. I've been to Kara Kara Bazaar more times than I could have counted just because of her. I was there when you showed up."

"I'm sorry." Wild had no memory of a wild magic user. They had all blended together after a while. 

"Yeah well, you killed her too. And Master Kohga. And a few others that I wasn't too attached to. And suddenly, I was filled with rage as well." She laughed bitterly. "I'd seen it twice before but suddenly I was on a warpath. I thought somehow, that if so many others couldn't, then I could. But just as I was about to go, you won. You killed Ganon."

"I'm not going to apologize for that."

"I know, you don't have to. I can see why you did. But that stopped everything for a while. I was thrust into research, trying to learn how to resurrect the dead. A part of me thought that if we could get Ganon back, it would be possible to get my sister as well. It took another few months for me to leave. I made my way up to Akkala, there were rumors you lived there. And, well you know the rest."

"I have a pretty good idea."

"What I'm trying to say. Is that it was a cycle of hate. You would defend yourself, it would be at the expense of someone someone else loved. Any of them would turn to hate, and so on and so on."

"When did you realize that?" 

She shook her head. "I'm not sure. Maybe the night I tried to kill you. Which I'm not sorry for by the way. Maybe when I figured out that Twilight actually had no idea I was a part of the Yiga clan. Or what we even were."

"Did you tell him?"

"I thought I did. On our second day of travelling I said I was from an offset Sheikah tribe from the desert. I thought he knew what I was talking about. When I learned he didn't it threw me for a loop. And how you treat me, and hoe Four talks to me, despite me being me, I can't help but feel like I'm failing the people I grew up with. Like I'm making a mistake. And all because I fell in love?"

"It seems unfair?" Wild suggested. 

"Yes! Why do I have to be the one in the wrong? Why does Hyrule have to be stuck in this tortured cycle of good and evil? Why does there have to be a demon raging in the castle for Hyrule to finally stop ravaging the towns of the poorest people? Why am I so confused about what I feel? And why am I telling this to you?"

She wiped at her eyes despite there being no tears. "You of all people."

"Because? I don't why. But it's good that you're thinking at least." Wild offered.

"Maybe." Clarese wiped her eyes. "Well that was emotionally draining huh?"

Wild flashed her a nervous grin. "You're telling me."

"I'm not going to try and kill you anymore I think." 

"I'll take that as a good sign."

* * *

That's all for actual written stuff. But for concepts that were eventually scrapped. 

\- Clarese and Wild would regularly try to kill each other. Twilight or Four would interrupt them and they would have to pretend that they liked each other.

\- Twilight knew the entire time, but was trying to change Clarese from the beginning.

\- TIME knew the entire time

\- Legend was going to be more involved, get a Marin subplot somewhere in there. 

\- Clarese was Master Kohga's Daughter

\- Her cousin was the one that Wild killed

So this went through a LOT of changes. And I'm glad you guys have stuck with me! 

**Author's Note:**

> Hmu on discord -Lucy-#3217 if you want to yell at me.


End file.
